REGARDLESS of whether it is the dry or rainy season, now is the time to stop relying on “man-made” water says corporate secretary of Fishermen and Friends of the Sea (FFOS) Gary Aboud.
In a press release on Tuesday, FFOS referred to a statement made by the Water and Sewerage Authority (WASA) that all of the nation’s reservoirs were either “nearing or at full capacity.”
While the news might be welcoming to some, FFOS stated that the country should not be dependent on certain types of plants to supply water to the population.
Aboud said, “While we are not meteorologists, it appears that we no longer have a traditional dry/rainy season, but rather persistent rainfall interspersed with dry spells.
“Given the likelihood of continuous rainfall, shouldn’t we begin the process of constructing new reservoirs to retain the fresh/potable rainwater at a fraction of the cost of purchasing privatized man-made water?
“Now is the perfect time to amend our National Integrated Water Resources Management Policy to harness and siphon fresh water rather than maintaining the dependency on very lucrative privatized man-made water.”
FFOS is suggesting water planning with the inclusion of stakeholders especially since WASA historically was not as responsive as needed pertaining to the fixing of leaks.
Aboud said that while persons should be able to retain jobs especially during the pandemic, “it is impractical to allow WASA’s overstaffing to continue to burden our empty treasury.”
He said, “Our Government and WASA must be reminded that access to fresh water is not a luxury but a basic human right that every citizen is entitled to.”
