IN light of the current changing climatic condition, the Caribbean Community Climate Change Centre (CCCCC) has handed over to the Government of Guyana 10 Hydro meteorological stations/Automatic Weather Stations (AWS). On Monday a team from the Hydromet Office and the Minster of Agriculture Minster, Dr. Leslie Ramsammy commissioned one of the ten stations at Leonora on the West Coast of Demerara.
In addition the centre has secured an additionally ten stations under the EU-GCCA project that will be made available to Guyana by mid 2013.
The network of stations being established will be remotely operated, thus reducing the need to have personnel permanently sited in the remote areas of the country from which critical hydromet data is needed.
The stations will allow for the monitoring of critical hydomet parameters including river states, river flow and sediment loading.
Also the interconnected network will provide data for the development of validation of climate models for use in early warning systems to predict periods of drought and excessive episodes of extreme weather –related events.
The improved and extended network of stations should, therefore, significantly help the hydro-meteorological service in providing improved medium to long term weather and climatic forecasts.
The cost for each of the stations is approximately $30,000 US which brings the total cost to $120M GYD.
Executive director of the CCCCC, Dr. Kenric Leslie said that this project would not have been possible without the support of the Hellenic Republic of Greece and the European Union in providing the centre with the funds for the acquisition of the stations.
“I can assure you, Government, that the centre stands ready to support, where possible, its climate change-related programme such as the low carbon development strategy.
In concluding he thanked the Government of Guyana for providing the CCCCC the support in bringing this project to a successful conclusion.
Meanwhile Agriculture Minster, Dr. Leslie Ramsammy during his address at the opening ceremony said, that Guyana is moving towards a complete revamping of the hydromet system.
According to him, since this plays a very critical role to development, under his leadership, he will ensure that every step is taken in the right direction to move hydromet to the next level.
“We have to change the reality, hydromet has been an orphan in agriculture for too long and since I became Minster of Agriculture, I have been striving to eliminate this,” Dr Ramsammy explained.
He said famers have been calling and asking why isn’t there a special issuance for them with regards to the weather and what should be expected, and in light of all these and other issues the Government of Guyana have been making strides in this regard.
“The new cabinet has always been inquiring about what is going on with the weather and what is it going to be like, quietly we have been working to put things in place in this regard,” he noted.
According to Dr. Ramsammy, the first of these mandates of the CCCCC is to coordinate the regional reponse to climate change and its efforts to manage and adapt to its projected impacts.
The second mandate he said is to establish financial mechanisms that would ensure both the short term and long term financial viability of the centre.
Through these support, the centre has been able to meet its mandates while simultaneously supporting projects such as the enhancement of the hydromet network in Guyana.
Dr Ramsammy said his job is to champion the CCCCC role since Guyana is vulnerable to climate and climate change.
Guyana, he said, is on track already and has been moving forward. He said this is a real Guyanese achievement and advancement in this regard especially in light of the current and continuously changing weather pattern.
He turned his attention to a new canal that is being constructed in the Canal No# 1 area which will act as added source for drainage in the area.
“By this time next year 14 new drainage pumps will also be installed along the coast,” he stated.
Dr Ramsammy said Guyana is not only persuading persons about climate change and educating on what it is, but the country is preparing to respond to the consequences of the climate changes.
He emphasized on the importance of hydromet to a country and especially, as such he says every effort will made to enhance the sector in this regard.
“Hydromet provides critical information with regards to the construction of the new airport that Guyana is constructing and also when the Berbice Bridge was being constructed it was always very critical,” he added.
He said, this is what Guyana envisages to be the rehabilitation of Guyana’s hydromet monitoring network.
This he said is the beginning of a regional wide process that aims to provide Cariforum activates with improved capacities to monitor Hydromet systems.