OVER the past few weeks, continuous rainfall has left communities in all of Guyana inundated by the floods. As a matter of fact, the rainfall recorded in May of this year was considered by the Hydrometeorological Agency as the second highest in 40 years.
The floods have affected more than 29,000 persons in over 300 communities directly, and thousands more indirectly. Some communities are still reeling from the loss of crops and animals due to the heavy rains that battered their livelihoods. Others are dealing with flooding in their homes and communities which were caused by the rainfall, and man-made problems such as the wanton dumping of garbage, non-repair of pumps and drainage and irrigation equipment, among other things.
This led to the Prime Minister, Brigadier Mark Phillips, on Thursday, alerting and updating the Parliament on the Government’s Flood Prevention, Monitoring and Response Plan. In it, Brigadier Phillips highlighted efforts being made to cope with the rains and what donations persons can make to the flood relief fund which has already raked in some $35M dollars.

And wherever possible, the Government of Guyana, through the Ministry of Agriculture and its supporting agencies, have been assessing and monitoring the situation as well as bringing flood relief packages to the affected residents, farmers and cattle owners.
The opposition too has set up a parallel Flood Relief Centre and has been urging affected citizens to call in and lodge their complaints. The APNU+AFC Opposition has also donated relief packages to communities which are its strongholds. It is also collecting donations and monies from citizens and organisations to do more packages but there seems to be hardly any transparency and accountability in the process. Firstly, there should be one national response to the floods. If the opposition parties are interested in going out to the affected areas to assess the situation for themselves they can do so on their own and with their own monies. But it will be better if they work with the government to bring relief to the affected citizens since after all, we are all Guyanese.

Secondly, persons should not be expected to contribute to a fund when there is already a national fund. Based on our past experiences with the Coalition, there is no guarantee that the donations made to them will reach the homes of the most affected, as party card and favoritism will most likely determine who benefits.
It is also important to note that the floods should not be seen as an opportunity to confuse the population with misinformation, distortions and fabrications on live shows, facebook discussions and platforms of politicians.
We all should work together as we confront the challenges posed by the floods to our collective livelihoods. President, Dr Irfaan Ali, has been leading the way in getting Guyana to navigate the floods and the pandemic. All should join with him in the interest of Guyana at this critical time.