AN historic first meeting of the Cabinet, held yesterday at the Civil Defence Commission (CDC), Thomas Lands,will see the government rolling out a comprehensive national relief effort in the wake of the abrupt flooding across Guyana’s low-lying coastal areas over the past three days.“There are some areas that have been identified, that require help insofar as evacuating persons from the flooded areas, and to put them into safe shelters,” Minister of State Joseph Harmon told the Guyana Chronicle last evening immediately after the Cabinet meeting.
The minister said residents of affected areas will be provided with food supplies, water supplies, and other necessities as well as mattresses and camp cots among other relief items.
“The flooding, of course, is not just in Georgetown,”Minister Harmon said, explaining, “We had some air reconnaissance from Regions 2 (Pomeroon- Supenaam), 3 (Essequibo Islands- West

Demerara), 4 (Demerara-Mahaica), and 5 (Mahaica-Berbice)… [And] we were able to identify the specific areas that require help.
“Civil society is involved, the Red Cross is involved, all of the Government agencies are involved, so we have a full-scale operation here at the [Civil] Defence Commission, and the fact that we have been able to activate a National Emergency Operations Centre [NEOC] is something that never happened before. We have come up with a certain plan, which will unfold as the days go by,” Minister Harmon continued.
Public Infrastructure Minister David Patterson, the central minister in this matter, is convincedof the direct relation between flooding in Georgetown and a lack of adherence to building codes.
Minister Patterson called for the stringent enforcement of laws against citizens who impede the work of technical teams in desilting drains, since “it is affecting the whole city.” This could be a collaborative effort between his ministry and the Ministry of Communities, even as the coastline grapples with what he noted was the highest level of rainfall in 130 years.
Such impediments, according to Patterson, are linked to the inaccessibility of drains by technical crews, which continues to challenge the hopes of a faster and more effective relief of the floodwaters.
“We have persons encroaching on our canals,” Minister Patterson said when asked about the major challenges to drainage in low-lying areas. “We have to find a solution to that because we can’t clear certain canals. The will is there of this Government to find a solution, and we will get there.
“The medium-term solution [is that] we have to review our building regulations [and] our designs,” Patterson noted. “There are persons who have been encroaching on our drainage system for whatever reason,” he continued, questioning whether this happens because of “lack of enforcement” or “lack of will.”
While a number of sluices in and around Georgetown are in less than favourable condition, Minister Patterson noted that there are still unspent monies from the recent tranche of $70M approved by Cabinet just after the coalition Government came into office.
He noted that the monies have not been spent because of some works, which have to be tendered for, and according to him, those tenders “have just been opened.”
Offering words of consolation to those affected by the floods was acting President Moses Nagamootoo, who chaired the Cabinet meeting while President David Granger attends the MERCOSUR meeting in Brazil.
“We are very concerned about this situation,” the acting President told this publication, “the excess rainfall has posed a challenge. This is our second baptism in water, in a matter of weeks. So we are very concerned that Guyanese are suffering.”
Mr Nagamootoo shared a similar sentiment to Ministers Harmon and Patterson that while the National Assembly had approved funds for the purchase of pumps under the previous administration, the unavailability of those pumps, which have been mired in controversy, is to the detriment of the Guyanese people.
“I believe this is an unnecessary tragedy that has befallen our people, but we are doing all we can, and [we are] mobilising all the resources to bring relief,” Mr Nagamootoo continued. “If we had some of the pumps that had been ordered from Surendra, and they had been deployed by now, I’m sure this situation would not have affected so many people.”
The opposition People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) has come out to challenge the new Government for not being equipped to deal with the issue of flooding, which has featured prominently over the years during this time. The PPP/C ceded the reins of power to the A Partnership for National Unity + Alliance For Change (APNU+AFC) coalition after the May 11 polls.
The acting President brushed aside the comments, while pointing to what he called “the disease that has been accumulating on the backs of the Guyanese people from maladministration by an incompetent PPP/C administration.”
The CDC’s headquarters at Thomas Lands will house the National Emergency Operations Centre (NEOC), an inter-agency coordinating effort among Government, the CDC, and other partners. The CDC yesterday briefed Cabinet, and a report compiled from documentation in affected administrative regions was submitted to the Council of Ministers for consideration.
While Minister Harmon, as Cabinet Secretary, could not quantify how much the entire operation will cost, he disclosed the sum for the daily operations at the CDC at some $300,000, which would not include work done outside of the CDC’s headquarters.
He noted, however, “The Minister of Finance [Winston Jordan] has given assurance that whatever is needed to bring relief to the people of this country from these floodwaters, we are going to do it.”

By Derwayne Wills