HEAD of the Presidential Secretariat (HPS), Dr. Roger Luncheon said, yesterday, that in light of recent periods of overtopping that is affecting Guyanese, also on the lower East Coast Demerara, attention to community drainage must be restored and treated with the priority it deserves.

Speaking at his weekly press conference, in Office of the President, Shiv Chanderpaul Drive, Georgetown, he said Cabinet, recently, endorsed the Ministry of Public Works’ option to acquire specially designed sand bags and trays to offer mobile elevation of challenged sea and river defences.
Luncheon said Cabinet also commended Minister Robeson Benn who, reportedly, worked tirelessly in his bid to mitigate the impact of the overtopping.
“Minister Benn, the Public Works Ministry and the Ministry of Local Government and Regional Development, all felt that the state of the existing drainage system cannot and must not be allowed to continue to be treated similarly, as a given, as a fact. The recurrent episodes, the likelihood of repetition, make mandatory comprehensive address of our community drainage.
“Fundamentally, the comprehensive solution in the face of the below sea level reality…Cabinet’s contention had to do with management of flood water and, in essence, community drainage,” Luncheon added.