-says commercialising entity should be an option
Agriculture Minister Robert Persaud said consideration should be given to allowing the Guyana Hydrometeorological Service Depart-ment to take on a more commercial role.
According to a Government Information Agency (GINA) press release, an open day was hosted to celebrate the 43rd anniversary of the Hydrometeorological Service at the Botanical Gardens. The event was part of observances for Agriculture Month.
Persaud commended the service’s long-standing employees who continue to contribute their service. He also urged persons considering a career in hydrometeorology “to be inspired by the contribution, dedication and the hard work of those who were involved in the creativity and types of work that made the [service] as valuable as it is today.”
The minister said the agency is increasingly called to provide its expertise to farmers, rainfall data, weather forecast and historical data. He said too that consideration should be given to making the agency semi-autonomous because of the material it produces and the information it requires. “It can be much more dynamic if it is allowed to take on a commercial feature,” he added. Persaud said that during Agriculture Month much emphasis will be placed on climate change since the agriculture sector is vulnerable especially along the coast. Agriculture contributes almost 33% to the Gross Domestic Product and the sector employs about 1/3 of the population.
He said too the effects of climate change has been a constraint over the last three sugar crops and has reduced opportunity days from 125 to 65. This means that more work has to be done in a shorter amount of time and cultivation size has to be increased by as much as 15,000 hectares. Under the Strategic Plan the ministry is aiming to increase production above 420,000 tonnes by 2016. Persaud also said there is need for more awareness, capacity and more financial resources.
This would require an immediate subvention of US$125 million and the government alone could not through single intervention provide this sum, he said. According to GINA the Japanese government, multilateral institutions and stakeholders have been approached to secure resources.
Acting Chief Hydromete-orological Officer Bhaleka Seulall lauded the service and noted the establishment of the Aeronautical Meteorological Section, also known as the Timehri Met Office, in 1992, which operates 24 hours daily. The section provides local and international aviation forecast and daily forecasts locally. Seulall said the Hyrdomet Service is a chief partner in the Natural Resources and Environmental Advisory Committee as well as the focal point for the Climate Change Convention, protocol and projects. The service played an integral role in ensuring Guyana’s Initial National Communication was completed and submitted to the United Nations, she said.
The service has also chaired the National Climate Change Committee from its opening until 2006. Seulall also noted that with climate change becoming a leading topic globally the retired heads of department lobbied for a National Climate Change Unit to be formally established. The office became a reality on April 1, 2007 under the guidance of the current minister. “In 1998, the service became the focal point for ozone issues in Guyana, and a National Ozone Action Unit was created as a section within the service,” Seulall said.
She said the service was currently working towards installing a weather radar at Timehri which is funded by the European Union and it is due to the persistence of the previous heads of the agency that Guyana was able to benefit from one of the four radars since competition among Caribbean countries was high. An MOU was signed between Guyana and Cariforum countries in December 2003.
Seulall said since the service was established in 1965 great emphasis was placed on monitoring Guyana’s weather, climate and water resources. It enables engineering designs so that buildings like the Providence stadium and bridges such as the Demerara Harbour Bridge and the Berbice Bridge, roadways and conservancies could function effectively knowing the extremes of rainfall and wind. “These are only a few of the areas that the service Information Base contributed to noticeable development and sustainable management of our [country’s] capital investments,” Seulall said. She also encouraged youths to pursue studies in science-based subjects particularly Mathematics and Physics as the agency has had much difficulty recruiting persons to pursue this discipline.
