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Oxfam collaborating with CDC to ‘get better picture’

Jan 17, 2009 News

Oxfam is currently collaborating with the Civil Defence Commission (CDC) to obtain a good overview of the current flood situation and to get a better picture of ongoing or planned interventions.
Yesterday, the organisation issued a release stating that it is providing ‘on-hand support’ for collection and analysis of data, supporting assessments, sharing tools and its international experience to assist the CDC with its role as the coordinating body.
On January 13 last, Oxfam released an internal ‘Situation Report’ on the current flood situation in Guyana, which, according to the release, was intended to inform higher echelons within Oxfam on the situation on the ground and, where needed, request for support.
This report was not intended to provide a comprehensive oversight of all interventions taking place in Guyana at this moment, but to give a quick overview for organisations that are little aware of the situation in Guyana, it stated.
“The report did not include full information on the activities carried out by the Ministry of Agriculture and the NDIA (National Drainage and Irrigation Authority), like the drainage activities and the veterinary services offered.”
The international organisation added that a more comprehensive report is in preparation by the CDC with the support of Oxfam, and will include those interventions made by ministries and the NDIA.
Following the publication of the report on the current floods in Guyana by OXFAM, where the country’s response was described as ‘weakly coordinated,’ Brian Greenidge, Deputy Permanent Secretary at the Agriculture Ministry, slammed the report as incomplete.
“The objective for such incomplete and inaccurate conclusions is a mystery,” Greenidge said.
The situation report prepared by Joost van de Lest of OXFAM said that there was severe flooding of communities in Regions Two, Three, Four, Five and Six (coastal areas) and along a number of the large rivers crossing the country.
It stated that no exact figures were available as yet, but communities faced flooding fluctuating from a few inches up to as many as five feet.
According to Greenidge the key issues raised by the OXFAM report were not comprehensive on the flooding in communities in Regions Two, Three, Four, Five and Six, and the report did not reflect the many drainage interventions by the National Drainage and Irrigation Authority and MMA, working with local government bodies to aid in the removal of flood and high water accumulated in low lying areas due to excessive rainfall.
He noted that the many drainage projects completed prior to the rainy season and the interventions undertaken and which will continue during the rainy period have yielded positive results in quick removal of flood and accumulated waters.
Greenidge emphasized, also, that the NDIA has been working closely with farmers, community groups and residents in implementing many of the drainage works.
Embedded in the report, it was pointed out that, since mid-December 2008, communities in the coastal regions are facing severe flooding.
The report added that since the start of the flooding, it has been raining consistently, and some communities have been under water for a month.
The report added that, in general, agricultural areas were hit harder than housing areas, though the lower lying housing areas as well as those located near rivers are flooded as well.
It added that since coordination mechanisms are weak, little information is available.
Apart from what OXFAM called ‘weak coordination’ on the ground, it stated that the Office of the President has mandated the CDC to coordinate the collection of data and the response, but the CDC, although willing, has very limited resources for this.
It added, also, that the Government has indicated that it will not declare a state of emergency. ‘Although CDC is in charge of collecting information, it does not receive sufficient/quality inputs from other stakeholders (with exceptions).’
Oxfam has been working in Guyana for a number of years with the support of various donor organizations.

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