RDC budgets for relief storage bond, as relief efforts continue

Linden storm/flood

In the aftermath of the destruction caused by a severe rainstorm in Linden, Region 10, on Friday last, regional officials are continuing to organise relief efforts to assist over 100 affected families.

Officials indicated on Monday that they have requested money to construct a relief bond which will assist in the storage of items in such times.
The storm, which lasted for approximately two and a half hours, resulted in damage to homes in areas such as Blueberry Hill, Silvertown, Burnham Drive, Retrieve, Fair’s Rust and other areas.
Following the storm, several residents complained that their rooftops had blown off and numerous trees were uprooted across the community. It also resulted in intense flooding in several residential areas as well as Central Mackenzie – which houses the main shopping district in the community.
Numerous electrical power lines and posts were also damaged during the ordeal. Regional Chairman Renis Morian noted on Wednesday that the Regional Democratic Council (RDC) has organised relief efforts and has so far been successful in assisting some of the affected families. This, he noted, will continue during the course of the week.
“We are pushing to have some relief by Wednesday, to have zinc sheets delivered. Instead of people nailing down [zinc sheets] we want them to screw them down and we’re delivering some hampers. For some people, with the devastation, everything went down- electrical TV, laptops and whatnot. On Blueberry Hill, the sad part was to see all the children’s school clothes that was already bought, books and so on outside. So, we are taking that relief to them by now and Thursday”, Morian said.

The Regional Chairman continued that already, the RDC, Government, Civil Defence Commission (CDC) and Banks DIH have lent support towards the relief efforts.
He noted, however, that they are unable to deal with all of the affected residents at once, but is currently dealing with the “worst-case scenarios”. He further hailed residents for supporting each other in terms of assisting with repair work to affected homes.
Morian, who focuses on Disaster Risk Management, said Friday’s incident was a “wake up call” as he pointed to the effects of global warming and climate change. He also noted that it is time for the region to improve in its relief efforts.
“What I’m hoping to see, and I know we’ve put it in the budget for 2020, is to have a bond – a Disaster Risk Management bond…If we have a bond here in Linden and it is supplied, it means that first response will be on us. So that is what we’re moving to”, Morian noted.
Similar sentiments were also echoed by Regional Vice Chairman Elroy Adolph, who stressed the need for such a bond.
“We’ve put it in for next year’s budget, for natural disasters…so come next year we want to have a building, a storehouse that we can store these things for whenever disaster comes. Right now, we really don’t have any direct fund to really help”, he explained.
Adolph pointed out that while Morian had appealed for assistance for the affected families, there is no direct funding available for incidents such as these. He added that the Council is still open to receiving assistance from those willing to donate.
“Actually, about a hundred families [were affected] and the destruction is about in the millions. So, we were asking for help to see how many persons [we could help]. A lady said there was actually 420 chicks for her died, so some people had losses and the losses [accumulated] were in the hundreds of millions”, Adolph noted.
He added that given the current weather pattern in Guyana, much more is expected. The Regional Vice Chairman has also urged residents to secure their roofs and to keep all drains in their communities clear to avoid blockages.
“One of the things that I would advise residents is to try to keep your drains clear of plastics. Let us try to avoid dumping plastics which would cause many of the culverts to block. So when you get heavy rainfalls the water would run off…and let us try not to nail our zinc sheets, use more screws on the rafters when we are putting down our zinc sheets”, he noted.