| By Kiana Wilburg Opposition Leader, David Granger, yesterday lambasted the People’s Progressive Party Civic (PPP/C) administrationOpposition Leader, David Grangerfor Thursday’s coastal flood.A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) Leader also repeated the call made by his coalition last year and again, recently, for the government to launch a comprehensive National Flood Control Plan to protect the population from the ravages of the repeated flooding.Granger said that the extent, intensity and frequency of flooding are unmistakable. He noted that the Thursday flooding alone affected areas in Queenstown in the Pomeroon-Supenaam Region (Region Two), the Canals Polder, Belle Vue Housing Scheme, Good Fortuin and Crane Housing Scheme in the Essequibo Islands-West Demerara and Georgetown and Strathavon in the Demerara – Mahaica Region.He said too, that APNU has noted with alarm, that the PPP/C administration seems to be unwilling to learn from past experience,Cheap Authentic Jerseys, unable to conduct a comprehensive investigation to determine the causes of recurrent flooding, and unprepared to implement measures which would help to notify the populace to be on the alert and to mitigate the impact of this hazard.Granger said that notwithstanding the extraordinary rainfall, much of the human discomfort was caused by mismanagement and neglect. He told media operatives at his press conference which was held at his Hadfield Street Office, that the government through the Ministry of Agriculture, which embodies the Hydro Meteorological Department and the National Drainage and Irrigation Authority, the Ministries of Local Government, Natural Resources and the Environment,Wholesale Jerseys China, Public Works and the Office of the President must be blamed for Thursday’s disaster.The Opposition Leader said that he is concerned with this pattern of monthly flooding which continues to incur incalculable personal losses in terms of damage to homes, household goods and domestic and agricultural equipment,Cheap Jerseys Wholesale, among other adverse effects.Granger called again for the PPP/C administration to promulgate a National Flood Control Master Plan that encompasses the consequences of climate change and anticipates the monthly cycle of flooding and of measures that can help in notifying citizens early of the onset of extreme weather and the threat of flooding.Shadow Minister of Home Affairs, Winston Felix also supported Granger’s statements and provided media workers with his findings after outreaches with citizens affected by the flood.Deputy Mayor, Patricia Chase-Green who was a guest speaker at the conference also gave her take on the matter. Green said that repeatedly, the Town Council has called on Town Clerk, Carol Sooba to conduct drainage works in Georgetown. But for the past two years, the Deputy Mayor disclosed, Sooba insists on not paying attention to the importance of such an activity and as such, nothing was done under her two-year leadership.Green said that all the drainage works done in and around the city have been conducted by the Ministry of Local Government. She insisted that the Town Clerk continues to stifle the Town Council. Green also said that Sooba is giving the Council a “hard time” as it relates to inputs in City Council’s 2015 budget estimates.“We are getting a terrible time to include drainage works in the budget because of her. What you would have seen in Albouystown, as we reported on Thursday, is disheartening. People had to sleep under water. People’s homes have been under water and have suffered personal loss. Who will compensate them?” Green questioned.As it relates to the $500M clean-up campaign and the perception that had it not been for the initiative, the situation could have been worse, the Deputy Mayor said that the project has been nothing but a mockery. She said that there has not been any proper desilting of drains to allow larger catchment areas for water.“They just remove the weeds and they did not do desilting in central Georgetown…You cannot start such a project in Georgetown, and the city starts at Agricola and that community has not been touched as yet and some communities are only partly cleaned. The project is a waste of taxpayers’ monies,Wholesale Authentic Jerseys,” she added.She deemed the entire situation to be one of national disgrace and said that the city is being run by a Local Government Minister who does not know his role and a Town Clerk who does not know how to manage the city and lacks vision.While APNU called on government to draft a plan to mitigate the flood situation urgently, the coalition had stated last year November, that it would be making moves to craft its own plan. Some of the country’s best engineers were contacted by APNU and a meeting was held to this end. Granger, in answering on the status of his party’s plan, said, “There is a group which is working on such a plan, but it is not completed and I can’t say what stage the work is at, but a meeting has been held.But what you need is an organization with the resources… let’s say the government; and that’s why we mentioned the five ministries which have a stake in ensuring that there is such a plan, and if the government came on board I believe the work being attempted by the opposition would move along more quickly.”The Opposition Leader did note that the plan will be revisited and it will push for completion. He disclosed however, that the Partnership does not have the resources to bring that plan to fruition but the consultations are nevertheless,Cheap Air Max 270 Womens, taking place. “It is beyond the resources of the opposition party,China Jerseys,” he said.Granger said too that he believes that the Private Sector Commission has been correct in calling on the government to have an inquiry into the flood situation as he had called for earlier this year. |
