By: Staff Writer
May 28, 2024
The Bahamas is dealing with stubborn bushfires this year as an unusual dry season has replaced the seasonal April spring rains as just another escalation of climate change effect.
Philip Davis, KC, said at the 4th International Conference on Small Island Developing States (SIDS) in Antigua and Barbuda that: Bushfires stubbornly burn throughout our islands in the heat of the Bahamian dry season. The flames have scorched our coppice and pine forests, unleashing an ashy haze that has spread across our communities.
“Bahamians living near these fires have been forced to breathe smoke-filled air and endure these hazardous conditions.
“At one point, the bushfires seriously compromised our visibility, forcing the Lynden Pindling International Airport – the airport of our capital – to temporarily halt all incoming and outgoing air traffic for several hours. Our fear is that this new, fiery reality will become the norm, and April showers will now be replaced by May blazes.”
Bushfires were raging across the Caribbean last year. Last April, there was a reported wildfire in Beausejour, Vieux-Fort, St Lucia. The weather that day was very windy, which fanned the flames, threatening neighboring communities and interfering with the flow of traffic. Residents in La Resource and La Retraite had to close their windows to prevent smoke from filling their homes. Firefighters struggled to get the fires under control.
Also last March, Trinidad and Tobago Newsday reported that Denny Dipchansingh, conservator of forests for the Ministry of Agriculture, Land and Fisheries, said 122 bushfires had been recorded in Northern Trinidad since December, including some accidental fires caused by human carelessness
Davis also spoke about water scarcity in the region. “In the past five years, every island in the Caribbean has experienced some degree of water scarcity.
“The people of the Caribbean live in one of the most water-stressed regions in the entire world. Short-term droughts have developed in Suriname, Tobago, Guyana and Grenada. Meanwhile, long-term droughts continue to afflict Trinidad, Belize, Cuba, and Dominica. Jamaica and Barbados have been compelled to implement policies limiting water usage.
“The region is more water-insecure than it has ever been, and we, the people of the Caribbean, are thirsty for change,” he said
Davis also said: Ladies and gentlemen, I wish to be clear. I have no intention of becoming a climate martyr.
“The deadline for climate reform is long gone. The time has come for climate revolution. Human action caused this crisis, and only humane actions can fix it.
“To empower SIDS, we need sustainable, long-term solutions, not quick fixes or gimmicks.
“Continuing this trend of band-aid solutions without addressing the root of the problem will, quite frankly, kill us.
“If we keep kicking the can down the road, eventually we will run out of road.
“We, as small island developing states, cannot afford to wait any longer.
“Every year, severe droughts, raging fires, and extreme storms claim more lives.”