If an earthquake—similar in magnitude to the one which hit Haiti in 2010—strikes T&T, the area of land in Port-of-Spain from the lighthouse to Movie Towne and west of Wrightson Road will sink; water pipelines will rupture; sewage will spill into the sea; and a tsunami will follow half-hour later, washing away anything in its path.
Dr Stephen Ramroop, chief executive officer of the Office for Disaster Preparedness and Management (ODPM), painted the grim picture at a demonstration exercise of the Trunz Water System at William’s Bay, Chaguaramas, organised by Powertrin and the Chaguaramas Development Authority (CDA). The system, designed in Switzerland, converts unclean water into drinking water and is solar powered.
Describing the impact of the disaster on basic services, Ramroop said, “All your water machines will be removed, your capacity to give water will be gone.” Emphasising the importance of treated water to a society, he said hospitals, industries and pharmaceutical companies required a constant, large supply of water. During the nationwide blackout on Good Friday, some hospitals did not have pipe-borne water, Ramroop said.
“Certain hospitals did not have a memorandum of understanding with WASA to bring truck-borne water. In a hospital, within two days of a disaster, tank water will be depleted,” Ramroop added. He said a lack of clean water could force people to consume contaminated water, resulting in the spread of diseases such as cholera. Currently, none of the regional corporations or relevant agencies has a water plan to mitigate the effects of a major water shortage, he added.
In the last two years, Ramroop said, the ODPM has been working with the relevant agencies to draft a national water policy, which would make it incumbent on these agencies to develop a plan. “One of the key elements of the national water policy is that each authority has to do a risk analysis of its water resources.”
Saying that the ODPM is a few days away from finalising the policy, he said it will ensure that in the event that there is a major water shortage, water would be provided in the least time through the collaboration of various agencies.