Warning that “Jamaica’s drought is becoming an economic risk”, Nigel Davy, chair of the Private Sector Organisation of Jamaica’s (PSOJ’s) Energy, Environment and Climate Change Committee, has called on business interests to view water conservation as “both a business necessity and a public interest obligation”.

“Water scarcity is no longer only an environmental or household concern [but] is becoming a business, productivity and national resilience issue,” he said in a recent message on the PSOJ’s social media platform.

His comments come even as Jamaica grapples with prolonged drought driven by the El Niño weather pattern which has suppressed local rainfall and caused temperatures to soar. Jamaica’s Met Service has warned that the country could continue experiencing drought conditions into the peak of what is traditionally the main rainy season in October which could strain water supplies, disrupt agricultural production, and increase heat stress on crops and livestock. The crisis — intensified by long-term damage from Hurricane Melissa in October last year — has severely depleted water supplies, decimated agricultural production, increased business’ operating costs, and triggered strict prohibition orders across multiple parishes. Minister of Water, Environment and Climate Change Matthew Samuda has warned that restrictions are likely to move further west as dry conditions persist and dam levels decline.