WASA'S 'DEVASTATING' DRY SEASON

Look, I'm the first to admit that we are in the throes of a dry season. I also have stopped watering my garden (thereby losing half of my plants and half of my lawn) and don't wash the car every week in an effort to do my own little bit to help conserve precious water. After all, if everybody cuts back on his/her water consumption there will be savings ... and every little bit helps. And no, I'm not some sort of hero ... just an ordinary person trying to help.


But what confuses me are the continuing reports in the mainstream media that this is a "devastating" dry season that is worse than usual and WASA has a real problem in keeping us all supplied BECAUSE of the dry weather. (No mention, of course, of the millions of gallons being lost on a daily basis because of leaky pipes!)


You see, I live in North Western Trinidad (Maraval to be precise). Now when we have a really bad dry season the hills in Maraval turn brown and by this time of year (the end of April) there are usually terrible forest fires raging in those hills. But ... guess what? This year I have seen no forest fires and the hills are still fairly green! Going into Diego Martin I find that the hills also look greener than they do during a really harsh dry season.  Now, the hills are not what you might call "lush" green, but they are certainly not brown ... which they normally are at this time of year.


In addition, there have been showers that have managed to keep lawns and plants alive in my neighbourhood.


So? What is going on? Are we really in the throes of a devastating dry season? Or are we being subjected to propaganda by the powers-that-be in order to "take in front" for the incompetence of those charged with providing us with a safe and secure water supply? Because, although I will readily confess to not having a PhD in meteorology my simple and most unscientific observation is that this particular dry season is not soooo bad ... which is what the authorities would have us believe.


So? Why are we getting these constant statements to the effect that this is the worst dry season for a long time? And why isn't the mainstream media reporting or questioning the statements about this being the worst dry season ever, etc.? Something here just doesn't add up. What? And why?