MINISTER of Local Government and Community Development Desmond McKenzie says the Government is treating the heatwave and drought facing the island as a national emergency and is pulling out all the stops to ensure that it provides an adequate response.

“It is a heat emergency and it requires a positive response and this is what the Government has been doing,” McKenzie said in an interview with the Jamaica Observer hours after his colleague Dr Christopher Tufton had told a post-Cabinet media briefing that so far the Ministry of Health has had no reports of any deaths related to the heatwave which has seen the average temperature ranging from 88 degrees Fahrenheit in April to 91 degrees Fahrenheit in July.

According to McKenzie, he is part of a Cabinet team that includes Tufton and minister with responsibility for climate affairs Senator Matthew Samuda, which has been working across the Government to see how it can respond in a way that will offer relief and support to Jamaicans who really need help.

“There is a comprehensive approach, a joined-up approach, and the Government, through various ministers, has been seeking to respond to it,” added McKenzie as he urged Jamaicans to take the threat seriously.

“This is something that I think Jamaicans need to pay close attention to. If we look at what is happening in other countries… there is cause for us to be concerned and to treat the present situation as a disaster. As I said some time ago, I believe that the present heat situation can be considered a disaster and we are faced with something now that if we are not careful it could be major.

“I do know that the excess heat is having a tremendous effect on the social services of the country,” said McKenzie.

He told the Observer that in his portfolio every effort is being made to intensify the efforts across the country, especially in the worst affected parishes, including St Elizabeth, Clarendon, Manchester, Portland, and Westmoreland.

“We have been intensifying the trucking of water right across the various parishes. We have seen where the water shops that have been established, especially the new one that we just opened in Manchester, we have seen the pressure that they are coming under,” said McKenzie as he pointed out that the Government continues to purchase vehicles to increase trucking of water to the worst affected communities.

The minister said he met with CEOs of municipal corporations on Thursday and is scheduled to meet with some mayors today to get further insight as to what is taking place within the various municipalities.

“All municipalities have been instructed to spare no expense in ensuring that water is provided to residents in communities who need it,” said McKenzie as he noted that there is great concern about homeless people now facing the heat and the drought.

“I know that some of the municipal corporations have been making a concerted effort to ensure the shelters are open and we have given instructions that the shelters that can be open 24 hours each day, that this is done to allow people who are living on the streets to get into them.

“I would also use this as an appeal for personal responsibility by Jamaicans at this time because it is very, very critical that we not be complacent and treat this as an ordinary situation. We have experienced some of the hottest days in this country in many, many years,” McKenzie said.

He pointed to the additional support which the Government is providing for farmers to help them deal with the heat and drought.

On Wednesday, Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries Floyd Green told Parliament that the ministry’s Agricultural Disaster Risk Management Committee has been mandated to continue the evaluation of the impact of drought conditions and identify practical solutions that will allow farmers to sustainably continue their farming enterprises taking into account the impact of climate change.

According to Green, having previously allocated $202 million to the Drought Adaptation (Mitigation) Programme the ministry will expand its intervention with an allocation of a further $104 million.

The additional allocation will continue the delivery of trucked water to affected farmers, the provision of vegetable seeds, the provision of mulch to help retain soil moisture, the provision of irrigation kits, the rehabilitation of catchment areas and the procurement of three water trucks.