Govt “out of touch” to declare flooding had ended – Opposition Leader

Region 5 flooding…

— as Ministers visit flood-affected communities

While Public Infrastructure Ministers David Patterson and Annette Ferguson visited flood-affected areas of Trafalgar, Number 28, Number 29 and Number 33 villages to assess the situation on Thursday, Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo in a press conference spoke out against the declaration that flooding had ended in Guyana. He also decried Agriculture Minister Noel Holder’s response to the crisis.
“Just a month after the [A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance For Change] APNU/AFC Government declared that it had ended flooding in Guyana as part of their one-year achievement, many of the people in Region Five are under water… some very callous statements [have been] emanating from the Government, particularly the Minister of Agriculture saying that this is an MMA problem, it’s not for central government to intervene,” the former President expressed.
Jagdeo opined that the Administration should ensure that all areas are given assistance, rather than a few “token” locations.

“I hope that Government will not make these token visits, they [need] to understand what is happening – the hardships of people [as] they will be on the ground to render assistance, they should also be balanced in their outreach – Region Five is made up of many people; PPP supporters, APNU supporters. They should go to all areas to ensure that people receive support at this very difficult time,” he noted.
Jagdeo also commended Regional Chairman Vickchand Ramphal for his efforts in attempting to address the concerns of his region despite the stalled Regional Democratic Council (RDC) meetings. Jagdeo pointed out that the Regional Chairman has alerted the Civil Defence Commission, Agriculture Ministry and other relevant agencies to bring solutions the ongoing crisis, as was reported by Guyana Times.
“If the region was functioning we would have had a better outreach, and maybe the APNU and PPP Councillors could have worked together to ensure that some of the problems which people are experiencing could have been avoided. But it just shows how out of touch this Government is when it had declared that it ended flooding in Guyana,” the Opposition Leader expressed.

Meanwhile, this publication learnt on Thursday that the flooding at Baiboo, Mahaicony has receded somewhat but not completely, as the pump is only functioning in one section of the area. It was reported that the area was inundated, which affected residents and farmers’ crops and livestock.
Also on Thursday, the Government Information Agency (GINA) quoted Minister Patterson as saying that a pump at Trafalgar which drained the area needed to be maintained better so that excess water could be removed from the land. He also told GINA that two new pumps in that area will be working continuously along with a pontoon and an excavator.