-ahead of final assessment report

EVEN in the absence of a final assessment report, the Government of Guyana has moved ahead to design recovery interventions for those affected by the ongoing floods.
This indication was given by President Dr. Irfaan Ali, who said that in addition to the work being done by the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency (CDEMA), local authorities are also executing continuous assessments of the countrywide floods.

“We have had our own internal assessments ongoing; it’s devastating to say the least. We are now awaiting the final report from CDEMA…and then we are going to look at that with our local data collection and then we’ll have a full assessment,” Dr. Ali told reporters on Friday on the sidelines of an event at Timehri, East Bank Demerara.
He gave the assurance that the government will not prolong the recovery process by waiting on the final report to mobilise the next phase of assistance. “We are not waiting on the report; it’s just the final numbers now that we are waiting on,” President Ali posited.

CDEMA recently presented Prime Minister Brigadier (ret’d) Mark Phillips with the preliminary findings of a Detailed Damage Sector Assessment (DDSA) on the floods. The DDSA covered assessments and analyses across seven sectors, namely health, water and sanitation, infrastructure and housing, agriculture, social services, and shelter and mining in Regions Two, Five, Six, Seven and 10.

Moratoriums on loans and grants for farmers, the need for relocation of some communities, the establishment of septic tanks and a revision of building codes are some of the preliminary recommendations stemming from the DDSA. The need for social services such as psychosocial support, welfare to help families sustain themselves and specific infrastructure rehabilitation were also highlighted.

Communities all across Guyana have been under water for approximately seven weeks now. The Level Two, and in some cases, the Level Three disaster has affected 51, 578 households; this translates to approximately 25 per cent of all households in Guyana.
Minister of Parliamentary Affairs and Governance, Gail Teixeira on Friday evening highlighted the fact that since the floods started, the government wasted no time in mobilising support for those affected. The priority, she noted, was the safety and well-being of all Guyanese.

The DDSA is a result of an agreement between CDEMA and the Civil Defence Commission (CDC) which falls under the Office of the Prime Minister. The DDSA is the fourth stage in the CDEMA Damage Analysis and Needs Assessment (DANA) continuum for disasters. The full DDSA report is expected by July 10, and will be used to guide decision-making on the way forward in Guyana.
On Wednesday last, Director-General of the CDC, Colonel Kester Craig said that following the completion of the DDSA, the information will be used to inform a Post Disaster Needs Assessment (PDNA) which is the next stage in the continuum; this will look at the socio-economic impact in a broader way.

Aside from the seven sectors, the DDSA also looked at the coordination of flood response.
In presenting the report, the CDEMA team commended the CDC for the work it has been doing thus far in relation to managing the response. The CDC and other necessary agencies will begin addressing certain immediate needs outlined in the DDSA.
“There are immediate actions that we would have already identified and would be taking to improve our response such as the improved response in the regions and community levels in areas of water contamination and health responses, provision of food supplies, and coordination management,” Colonel Craig said.

In an earlier engagement, the Director-General said, “The intention is not only to report on it [findings], but to use this prelim report to improve our responses. We will definitely be reaching out to the various agencies, ministries, regions to ensure these mechanisms are implemented to ensure improved services to our citizens. We still have work to do.”