SOME $25M will be spent by the government to provide assistance to the residents of Mahdia, Region Eight (Potaro/Siparuni), whose homes and business enterprises were razed by the recent fire.
About $5M is for land preparation to develop approximately 36 acres, near the Mahdia airstrip, to accommodate about 150 homeowners.
According to Head of the Presidential Secretariat (HPS), Dr. Roger Luncheon, in his media briefing yesterday, affected families will be provided house lots free of cost.
The remaining $20M is earmarked to develop a new arcade to replace the entrepreneurial structures that were demolished by the fire.
These decisions of Cabinet were based on information derived from urgent damage assessments and needs analyses that were done, which allowed Cabinet to act promptly in efforts to alleviate the effects of the fire, as well as to use the opportunity to fast-track developmental initiatives in the mining town.
The government responded with urgency to the disaster, with a Cabinet team led by Prime Minister Samuel Hinds, which included Ministers Dr. Jennifer Westford, Robeson Benn and Kellawan Lall flying almost immediately to Mahdia to render support and/or assistance
Arrangements for the accommodation of the victims in the community’s school were effected immediately, and shipments of emergency disaster supplies from the Civil Defence Commission (CDC) warehouse were also airlifted into the area.
Region Eight Chairman, Mr. Senor Bell, has expressed his appreciation for the consistent support provided to the community and said that works have already begun to prepare the land identified for the community’s housing programme, with about half the work already done.
The effects of climate change are present and real, causing erratic weather patterns that are creating devastation in many communities. Ever present in cases of drought or flooding due to excessive rainfall, compounded by other natural factors, such as high tides and overtopping of river banks, are the government officials, who work indefatigably in dry weather or wet, night or day, to occasion some measure of relief to victims.
Cabinet Ministers, accompanied by experts in the various fields, such as drainage and irrigation, health, housing and water officials, venture into rank and murky floodwaters, irrespective of threats to their own health and lives, to attempt to provide help and solutions to all the various problems caused by weather-related catastrophes.
And these officials transcend the political and racial divides in this country.  They are, first and foremost, Guyanese who are working assiduously to bring relief to their fellow countrymen and women all over the country, disregarding their personal discomfort and inconvenience in the process, and it is during these times of crises that the world should take cognizance of what the real Guyana represents – a people caring of each other when the chips are down, be they ministers or labourers.
At these critical times the real Guyanese spirit emerges, where providing support and assistance to their fellow Guyanese becomes the paramount consideration.
The effects of climate change can no longer be described as a threat.  The nightmare has been upon us for quite a while, and those who argue against this reality and the need for developing countries such as ours to access enough funds to help us to adapt to and mitigate the effects of these devastating and erratic weather patterns have deliberately blinded themsel78ves to these realities.
But Guyana has an administration that reaches out to its people, regardless of the community or crisis.  This country has overcome worst disasters in the past, albeit of a man-made nature, and the government is ensuring that we shall continue to overcome any travails – either natural or man-made, that beset us, because Guyana is poised to propel itself into a future of unparalleled prosperity and these incidences are mere stumbling blocks that cannot impede this country’s developmental momentum.