Reacting…to flooding

As a knock-kneed kid in short pants, your (then callow) Eyewitness was taught that we had two “rainy seasons”; May–June and December–January, with spill overs at the margins. But here he is in March, and like the past few years, he’s experiencing the heaviest rainfall in decades!! He was out on Friday, and his car’s wipers – swivelling away like demented banshees – couldn’t clear the deluge away for him to see the road!! And this had been going on since the beginning of the week!! Respite had been promised by the weatherman by afternoon!! Well, once again that fellow proved to be clueless; since Friday night into Saturday morning, the deluge INCREASED to Noah-like conditions!!
And predictably, the meteorologists informed us that the ground had become “waterlogged” and we should expect flooding!! Hello??? Flooding’s ALREADY here, and we should be working on permanent relief, no?? Maybe raising our yards by the four or five feet our coastland is under sea level?? Your Eyewitness happened to pass by the Chateau Margot chimney site on the East Coast that was purchased by the Trini Massey for another of their supermarkets – and it seems they’ve gotten the message on going five feet up for the entire property!!
Frankly, from where your Eyewitness sits – in a canoe in his front yard!! – He sees no relief from the coming floods. We’re caught between the Devil, represented by flooding, and the deep brown Atlantic that we’ve been assured is rising due to melting ice caps and glaciers!! In the past, we’ve had proposals to leave GT to sink beneath that said Atlantic and move our capital to higher ground.
Burnham had talked about moving it to the North East District – which we now rather prosaically call Region One!! Of course – as with all of Burnham’s great ideas – the matter never left his scribbled notepad, much less the “drawing board”!! Right now, Pressie’s already launched Silica City in the “Hill and Sand Belt” off the Linden Highway. Maybe that Government office building that seems to be stuck at the steel-girder phase might be moved there??
Anyhow, your Eyewitness feels that the entire coastland doesn’t have to be abandoned to the Atlantic waves. Since we’ve built our houses on stilts – thanks to the foresight of those Dutchmen, who knew more than a thing or two about lowlands and flooding! – the raising of yards makes sense! So, what’s gonna happen to the roads that’ll be under water?? They’ll become the bottom of canals and make us put Venice to shame!!
Ole Kenny Rogers proffered some sound advice when he crooned, “You gotta know when to hold it and know when to fold it.”
It’s time to fold on flooding!!

…GT’s decrepitude
When it comes to GT’s steady decline into garbage and decay, the PPP just can’t win – up to now! Controlled by the PNC since Burnham became Mayor in 1959, the PPP that took over the Central Government in 1992 has ever since been blamed for GT’s abominable condition into which it had been allowed to fall!! While they were the ones that controlled the taxes and spending, the PPP was blamed since GT was also the seat of Government!!
Well, after spending over $19 billion since 2020 on what became temporary facelifts that quickly reverted to flits – and still being blamed – the PPP has decided that enough is enough!! They’ve had Central Govt take over 22 of GT’s major streets and also the long-deserted eyesore that was the Constabulary Training Complex!!
“Hostile takeover!!” screams the M&CC. But the Govt pointed out it’s already taking care of the streets while the M&CC collects taxes!! And since the complex was owned by “the colonies of Demerara and Essequibo” – it’s state land!!”

…to Suriname
As predicted by your Eyewitness, the “wrong and strong” Surinamese gave us the finger after Pressie sent them a polite diplomatic note concerning their outrageous charging of fees to use the Corentyne River to transport goods!! Bun dem!!