UPDATE: Met Service releases official statement about suspended Twitter Account
A social media storm is brewing on Twitter after the official Twitter account for the Meteorological Service of Jamaica was ordered closed by management after an apparent disagreement with North East St. Elizabeth Member of Parliament and Deputy General Secretary for the People’s National Party Raymond Pryce. The fallout started due to a disagreement over whether climate change was indeed happening and provable scientifically.
Jamaica was experiencing drought conditions for many months until mid May when the traditionally rainy month brought numerous days of heavy rain which ended the drought. As is usually the case when there is a heavy downpour sections of the island were negatively affected.
Below is transcript of the Twitter conversation between MP Pryce and the Met Office Rep and the messages related to the closure of the Met Service’s Twitter account (typographical errors such as the date the account was closed are present). The closure of the account has not gone down well with many Twitter users as many Jamaicans at home and overseas use the social media link daily to keep up to date on the weather and to ask questions directly to the Met Office. Was the Met Service right to close down its Twitter account? Do you believe that the tweets directed at the politician were instrumentally in the closure of the account? What are your personal thoughts on Climate change? Is it really happening or myth? Leave a comment below or tweet us @Geezam.
@jevon_minto@MetserviceJA The inability of the watersheds to absorb the volume of water, the preceding drought ALL connected (1/2)
— Raymond Pryce (@RaymondPryce1) May 20, 2014
@jevon_minto @MetserviceJA (2/2) Conclusion: enough with taking these matters for granted. Time for action is ALREADY. — Raymond Pryce (@RaymondPryce1) May 20, 2014
@RaymondPryce1 @MetserviceJA Well Metservice is seemingly saying otherwise – whose the expert here?
— Jevon Minto, Sr (@jevon_minto) May 20, 2014
@jevon_minto @MetserviceJA become your own expert … do the research … http://t.co/CcMPsFQiXx many other sources you obtain on line — Raymond Pryce (@RaymondPryce1) May 20, 2014
@jevon_minto @MetserviceJA become your own expert … do the research … http://t.co/mDfxUQ5X0U many other sources you CAN obtain on line
— Raymond Pryce (@RaymondPryce1) May 20, 2014
@jevon_minto @RaymondPryce1n asking if the rain is as a result of manmade global warming…no. Climate change? No 100mm has happened before. — MetServiceJA (@MetserviceJA) May 20, 2014
@jevon_minto @RaymondPryce1 in the same month.
— MetServiceJA (@MetserviceJA) May 20, 2014
@MetserviceJA @RaymondPryce1 please see above statement by MET — Jevon Minto, Sr (@jevon_minto) May 20, 2014
@jevon_minto @RaymondPryce1 we have seen similar damage with half the rainfall amount.
— MetServiceJA (@MetserviceJA) May 20, 2014
@jevon_minto @MetserviceJA you surely cannot be suggesting the observed outcomes of yesterday’s downpour are hmm #ClimateNormal ??? — Raymond Pryce (@RaymondPryce1) May 20, 2014
@RaymondPryce1 @jevon_minto 100mm of rainfall is easily achieved in a couple days in May, August, September, October.
— MetServiceJA (@MetserviceJA) May 20, 2014
@RaymondPryce1 The outcomes of the activity are NOT the result of the climate. The outcomes are the result of poor planning and decisions. — MetServiceJA (@MetserviceJA) May 20, 2014
@RaymondPryce1 the road work should have started and been completed long before the season started. The road washing away was more to do …
— MetServiceJA (@MetserviceJA) May 20, 2014
@RaymondPryce1 @MetserviceJA Easily achieved Mr. Pryce. — Jevon Minto, Sr (@jevon_minto) May 20, 2014
@RaymondPryce1 with its construction. The same amounts happened in St. Mary at the same time with different results. Stop blaming climate.
— MetServiceJA (@MetserviceJA) May 20, 2014
@jevon_minto @RaymondPryce1 Parts of St. Ann recorded totals of up to 125mm in three days. Parts of Portland recorded 80mm in two days. — MetServiceJA (@MetserviceJA) May 20, 2014
@jevon_minto @RaymondPryce1 Jamaica is fundamentally defined as LAND OF WOOD AND WATER and it is so for a reason.
— MetServiceJA (@MetserviceJA) May 20, 2014
@jevon_minto @RaymondPryce1 The definition as we all know precedes all theories on Climate Change. Climate Change couldn’t be responsible. — MetServiceJA (@MetserviceJA) May 20, 2014
Followers, please be advised that as of Mar 26, 2014, the Twitter account held by the Met Service of Jamaica, has been ordered closed.
— MetServiceJA (@MetserviceJA) May 26, 2014
Under decision by management, it has been advised that these are the instructions until further notice. — MetServiceJA (@MetserviceJA) May 26, 2014
Feel free to contact us through our usual channels via telephone at 924-8404 and 924-8055. The NMC will respond to all further requests.
— MetServiceJA (@MetserviceJA) May 26, 2014
15 responses to “Jamaica’s Meteorological Service Twitter account ordered closed after Climate Change disagreement with Politician”
Thanks for posting the complete conversation of what took place Kelroy.
Honestly, I was expecting something more serious than this. If this is what led to the closure of the account then we should be ashamed. This was a simple debate and exchange of views. In fact, to whatever extent that the climate changes the government has enough warning, information and time to make necessary preparations for its people.
If something “incorrect” was said on Twitter then all they need to do is issue a correction of their statement or real views and move on. Not tear down the entire house for the sake of a single debate.
well said Robyn. Can’t believe such an important and well supported social media outlet will be shut due to a difference in opinion
Great post and a logical outline of how the events happened. Thanks
“Do I believe that the twitter account was terminated because of a conversation between Raymond Pryce and a member of the Met Services ?
YES !!
Our politicians have a penchant for being thin skinned and vindictive. Can anyone find out if the person whose job it was to communicate via twitter is still in the employ of The Met Service ?
Were the MetSvc tweets factual or inaccurate? That is the first fundamental question.
The other is whether the purpose and authorised use of the twitter account was to provide information and ‘educate’ or to engage in a tit for tat. It started down the hill, but I still think the response was harsh.
And I thought the responses with measured and informative.
Kurt. Would that then be justification for suspending the twitter account?
Met Office lost perspective. Being argumentative with one public while the world is reading is not cool. Be informative instead.
As far as I’m concerned, Mr. Raymond Pryce as a Government official has NO business debating with matters outside of his expertise. I don’t see anything rude in the statements made by MET service to lead to a suspension of the account. All statements made were simple put statements of fact, not opinion-based. He should focus on his duties as an MP and stay off social media with this rubbish.
It has been said that 97% of all scientists believe in Climate Change…..The other 3% just don’t have the right information.
This is not a case of Chicken Little where the world is screaming the sky is falling. The evidence is here for anyone to see if they choose to. If Climate Change was not a reality then why waste time on having a Minister in charge of Climate Change go about formulating plans for preparedness? Or the UN as well as other nations around the world taking steps now to help reverse the affects?
Someone should have known better here, and stuck to factual evidence Vs. going off on a tangent on infrastructure which everyone knows is in poor condition and lacking in some cases to prevent damage from heavy rains.
The question is over time how does this impact the region, not just one event. Is this the beginning of what would be a normal season or an abnormal season? What does NOAA say about the weather forecast for the year in the region as well as other areas around the world. There are many warning signs that must be paid attention to in order to save lives should adverse conditions arise. That above all is the most important thing here and should remain the focus when addressing the reality of climate change.
It wouldn’t have come to that if they had all seen this debate: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cjuGCJJUGsg
The post is good and the tweets may be logical, but they are not easy to follow. Too many tweets repeating and I’m not too sure what is happening.
I believe the ‘minister’ was unprofessional in his conversation with the Met-office as they were simply informing him of the issue at hand. It seems to me that he wanted to put the blame of damaged structures or property on someone and decided to blame it on the Met-office for information he was unclear about. He should of contacted them for clarification before posting it publicly on a social media site such as twitter. He was behaving in a very petty and juvenile manner just because he realized he was in the wrong…#typical_Jamaican_politicians
People need to know that the Met Serivce is THE repository for rainfall data for the entire island of Jamaica. They WERE NOT saying climate change does not exist, they were saying 100mm of rainfall is within Jamaica’s normal range and not indicative of a climate change event. Had it been 500mm of rainfall then the response would be different. People are thinking too much into the response. If it drizzles in Kingston tomorrow and someone asks if it was related to climate change, is Met Service allowed to say no without being criticized for not believing in climate change? sheeesh
Raymond Pryce and Damion Crawford, 2 young politicians who at times get “foot in mouth disease” when they tweeting.
You really make it seem so easy with your presentation however I find this matter to be actually one thing that I feel I’d by no means understand.
It seems too complicated and very extensive for me.
I’m looking forward to your subsequent put up,
I’ll try to get the hold of it!