El Niño is expected to have a severe impact on our weather in the coming months, and to deal with its effects, the Government has established an inter-ministerial committee, chaired by Minister of Planning, Economic Affairs and Development, Dr Kennedy Swaratsingh.

The Committee will consist of representatives from the Ministries of Rural Development and Local Government, Education and Health.

“Part of what the plan envisages is also looking at areas such as trying to mitigate things like bush fires, making sure that in drought-like conditions, we don’t precipitate or inadvertently increase the likelihood of incidents like bushfires. We have to also look at disaster preparedness in terms of if we need to make sure in terms of ensuring people have the resources close by in terms of water, we may have to consider at some stage cooling stations.”