Latest update November 8th, 2024 1:00 AM
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Granger says Govt response to Lethem crisis slipshod
PNC Presidential Candidate David Granger
…volunteers his service to ease flood woes
Presidential Candidate for the People’s National Congress Reform, David Granger, accompanied by a team that included Dr George Norton, yesterday visited the flood- affected community of Lethem.
Granger, at an emergency press conference at Congress Place, Sophia, said that he and his team carried relief supplies and emergency equipment for the immediate distribution to the residents.
The items were distributed to displaced persons who have been housed temporarily at the Culvert City Nursery School and Arapaima Primary School.
According to Granger the team had to move around the flood-affected community by boat. The schools are not proper; nursing mothers do not have any privacy, he said.
He further told the media that there are no baths for persons who are housed at the school.
He said that although the Rupununi is nearly 58,000 square kilometer and is one of Guyana’s largest region, surprisingly, the infrastructure is so poorly developed.
“This rainfall in early June has completely cut the Region off from the rest of the country,” Granger said.
According to Granger parts of the Linden–Lethem road are inundated and vehicles along with passengers have been stranded and are unable to reach their destinations.
“We have trucks stuck in the road and persons are stranded there,” Granger told the media.
Granger said that the runway at the Lethem aerodrome is “cracking up” and is becoming dangerous for aircraft.
“If the government could spend millions to resurface the South Dakota racing circuit why can’t they refurbish the airstrip?”
He said that situation has been aggravated by unplanned settlement, under-developed infrastructure and an unprepared administration which was overwhelmed by the catastrophe.
According to the presidential candidate the town should not be run by outsiders, instead they should work to make it township.
Granger added that it is common knowledge that the weather patterns in the Rupununi savannah are unique and significantly different from those in the rest of the country.
“There is one long dry season from August to April and one long wet season from May to July,” Granger said.
Although the administration was faced with almost the identical flood situation some five years ago, it still seems ill-prepared for a recurrence, he added.
“There seems to be no disaster preparedness plan for the Region. No Civil Defence stores have been stocked there although there is a warehouse which is not being used,” Granger said.
He said that there seems to be no mobilization of voluntary relief workers. Granger condemned the government for not having the Linden- Lethem access road completed and called for its immediate surfacing to ensure integration of the region with the rest of the country.
He also insisted that Lethem must be upgraded to the status of a town to allow residents to elect a municipality which is more concerned about their interest.
Also a volunteer Militia must be recruited, trained and equipped to carry out civil defence tasks and protect the community during fire, floods and other disasters.
Granger said that he is willing to work along with the Government to properly manage the situation in Lethem.
He said that a majority of the persons in Lethem feel that the situation could have been prevented.
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