WHILE the threat of hurricanes is a real and a major cause for concern, Minister of Public Utilities and Environment, Pennelope Beckles, believes that another challenge facing our island States is the degradation of many of our coastal areas.

“This is a real threat to our tourism industry, a vital earner of foreign exchange for Caribbean nations,” said the minister, who was the feature speaker at the 45th Session of the Caribbean Meteorological Council at Crowne Plaza Hotel, last week Thursday.

“In addition to the tropical depression storms and hurricanes over the last several years, we in Trinidad and Tobago as well as many other parts of

Minister PENNELOPE BECKLES (centre)
with ERKSKIN GRIFFITH, Minister of
Agriculture and Rural Development,
Barbados, (at right) and REGINALD
AUSTRIE, Minister of Housing, Lands
and Telecommunications, Energy
and Ports, Dominica (left).

the Caribbean, have experienced levels of flooding that have not been seen in many years.

Beckles added that the social and economic impacts on the country have been very marked, because of the frequent flooding.

“The government and its agencies hardly seem to have time to address the impacts of one flooding event, before another event seems to occur,” said Beckles.

“If flooding continues unabated, stakeholders in the tourism industry could face difficulty in sustaining business viability, as expensive protection measures for coastal property would be needed to combat sea levels and to preserve property values,” she continued.

“It can also lead to the increase of widespread diseases such as cholera,” she ended.