By: Staff Writer
October 21, 2022
Water is a precious resource, but many people look at it as if it has an infinite presence, when it is not. Access to clean, potable water is in high demand and is now being seen as a more than just a “right.” Soon it will be in more serious demand than oil or gold because everything needs water in its cycle.
Robert Le Hunte, executive director at Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), told the Caribbean Water and Wastewater Association (CWWA) annual conference held at the Atlantis, Paradise Island, Bahamas that this is the case with water conservation and the protection of water resources.
He also said: “We have to let everyone understand water is a resource… like gold, like petroleum and therefore it needs to be treated like that, rather than how we think about it as almost a right.”
Midori Makino, Lead Water Supply and Sanitation Specialist for the Water Global Practice, covering the Latin America and the Caribbean Region at the World Bank, also said: “As we all know, water touches every aspect of development and events with nearly every Sustainable Development Goal.
“Water derives economic growth supports for healthy ecosystems and it is essential and fundamental to life itself. “
She continued, “Like water sanitation, access, climate change impacts, pollution, and even the recent COVID pandemic, these are all factors that are worsening the water scarcity issues in the world.”
She added: “90 percent of all natural disasters are water related 60 percent of the world’s population lives in water stressed space, 90 percent of sewage flows in developing countries are discharged untreated into water bodies.”
The United Nations reported the vast majority of natural disasters- over 90 per cent- are water related, including drought, flood and tropical storms, with significant impact on societies and the economy.
Ms Makino also said: A recent review that we carried out shows that several Caribbean countries are classified as experiencing extremely high water stress levels and the impact from natural disasters are also higher in the Caribbean countries than any other regions of the world.
“The incidence of floods, droughts and other disasters have increased significantly in the recent years. These factors have contributed to divergence of the Caribbean income level as compared to the industrialized nations falling from 35 percent in 2000 to only 25 percent in 2021.
“There’s a positive aspect as well, which is that many of the countries in the Caribbean have relatively high access to private water supply. But the main challenge is the quality of service, which remains often intermittent or inefficient.”
Mr Le Hunte added: “I am passionate about any endeavours geared towards improving the water and wastewater sector in this region. Moreover, I fully support the coming together of Caribbean people to find innovative solutions for common challenges.”
He also said: “Water is essential. It is the single most important resource. Without which, I dare say, every industry, every household, every life would crop.
“Governments around the world including those in the region, subsidize the cost of water and that is important to ensure that people have access to water.”
Questioning the sustainability of subsidizing water to thousands of residents on an annual basis and that the problem is “significantly more challenging” now than it was 20 years ago. “And problems continue to snowball. The International Monetary Fund projects global growth is forecasted to slow from 6 percent to 3.2 percent between 2021 and 2022 and then go down to 2.7 percent in 2023,” Mr Le Hunte said.
He continued, The IMF Economic Review states that the worst is yet to come. And for many people in 2023 will feel like a recession. For many of our Caribbean countries, this is a daunting forecast as we all grapple with the lingering effects of COVID-19 pandemic, the war in Russia and Ukraine, and natural disasters.”