THE Office of the President, through the Civil Defence Commission (CDC), is currently facilitating training in the use of computer technology to create information pertaining to flooding and how the effects of flooding can be mitigated by proactive measures. The training, which commenced two Tuesdays ago and will continue to July 13, is a joint effort of the Civil Defence Commission, United States Southern Command (SOUTHCOM) and the United States Army Corps of Engineers. It is essentially an introduction to hydrology and hydraulics.

Participants at the CDC training programme

The first week of workshop – the initial groundwork – is being held at the Center for Information Technology at the University of Guyana, and involves members of the CDC, the Hydromet Service, Lands and Surveys, and the University of Guyana, among others.

The second week of activities will involve simulation exercises, culminating with a seminar that will be attended by Head of the Presidential Secretariat and Ministers of Government.

Subsequent to the January 2005 floods, the Government has heightened its focus on measures that can mitigate the effects of flooding. While the Ministry of Agriculture has been the forerunner in ensuring the maintenance of high capacity drainage systems and providing frequent weather forecasts through its hydromet service, the Administration has broadened its focus in an effort to face new challenges emerging from a perpetually changing global climate.

Speaking during an interview with the Government Information Agency earlier this week, senior hydraulics engineers Mark Jensen and Stanford Gibson of the US Army Corps of Engineers said they hoped at the end of the two-week training and simulation exercises, participants would be able to use the software to determine when and where flooding will occur, the extent thereof, and by extension, a warning time as a result of which citizens and the Government will be able to take precautionary measures.

Operations and Training Officer of the CDC Captain Kester Craig said it is hoped that the UG lecturers who have been trained in the use of the relevant computer technology will pass on the information to students, and over time the institution can seek to formulate and deliver an academic programme in this discipline.