Minister Hastings-Williams delivers flood relief to hometown in Region 7

Minister within the Ministry of Communities, Dawn Hastings-Williams, on Friday delivered to Toshao Casey Hastings of Kako, in Region Seven, food and medical supplies, bed nets, potable water filters, cough syrup, cleaning detergents and other basic supplies for distribution to the residents in the aftermath of the recent flooding experienced by Regions Seven and Eight, wherein homes and livelihoods

were seriously affected.

Minister Hastings-Williams originated from Kako, and she explained that she

coordinated the activity after she received word that the residents were in need of the items. “It saddened me to hear that a lot of families were affected by the flood, and particularly their livelihood… I came here in person to see and hear from the toshao and other residents what has been the damage, and to render whatever assistance is necessary to bring back normalcy to the village,” she explained.

Toshao Hastings was very appreciative of the minister’s gesture. He praised the timely response of the Region 7 Administration in reaching out to the affected communities and residents.  Speaking with the Government Information Agency (GINA), Toshao Hastings explained, “Water was very high in the community for the first time in my lifetime, and 124 households were affected.” He said that while only four homes in Kako were completely under water, the farms in the village and

contiguous communities have been ravaged by the flood.

“Water either covered the farms or we had water coming through the soil and destroying the crops,” the toshao said. The main crop in hinterland communities is cassava, which takes almost one year to sow and reap.

Toshao Hastings described Central Government and the Regional response to the crisis was as “very quick”, and he added that residents are really thankful for what has been done.

“A few days ago, the Chairman of the Region and a team was here, and now the minister is here; and we are very grateful for the responses we receive,” he said.

As a result of recent excessive rainfall in the highland regions of the hinterland, several villages in Region Seven — including Kako, Jawalla, Phillipai, Kamarang

and Duebamang — were flooded. But as the water recedes from the land, Government has been forwarding supplies to affected communities. The Region Seven Regional Democratic Council (RDC) has also begun to lead an effort aimed at assessing the impact of the flooding and the current high water levels in the region.

This effort, supported by the Civil Defence Commission (CDC), has resulted in a Forward Operating Centre (FOC) being set up in Kamarang, which Minister Hastings-Williams also visited. The FOC was created to provide an open space for coordinating delivery of the relief supplies to the affected communities, Planning and Training Assistant of the CDC, Allana Walters, pointed out.

Walters, stationed at the Centre, explained: “What we have been able to do is set up one point where everybody has been able to meet and coordinate our efforts. We have boards set up with the different communities, the total population, the households, as well as the affected and tracks of what we have been able to send out and what we are expecting to go out from this room.”

Walters also was in high praise of the RDC leadership and its response to the flooding. She explained that, since last year, the CDC has been working with the RDC to develop a Regional Disaster Risk Management System, and through this earlier collaboration, the two teams were able to conduct an assessment of the region, develop maps, and a plan and form a Regional Disaster Risk Management Committee, chaired by Regional Chairman Gordon Bradford. Walters said this earlier work was crucial to the effectiveness of the region’s response to the flooding.

“So when they (the region) got information about what was happening in the Upper Mazaruni, the Regional Disaster Risk Management Committee was able to quickly call a meeting in Bartica, and from then they were able to make decisions and mobilise resources to come out and do assessments,” she explained.

“So we are very pleased that that was able to happen, and things are rolling out in that manner consistent with how the CDC looks at disasters and responses,” she explained.

The team has been asking the communities to pick up their relief supplies from the Centre. The hampers are prepared based on the information supplied to the Centre by the communities and from the assessment carried out by the joint effort. The communities are being provided with fuel to take the supplies back to their villages. Provision of the fuel is, however, a costly exercise, and the team is facing the challenge of running out of fuel.

Minister Hastings-Williams has, however, committed to rectifying this situation as soon as possible. (GINA)