The recent flooding on West Demerara was instructive

Mar 19, 2018 Letters

DEAR EDITOR,
The recent inundation at Anna Catherina, Cornelia Ida, Leonora, Stewartville and Uitvlugt, Essequibo Islands/West Demerara has left many citizens in discomfort. They are slowly bringing themselves back to normalcy but the response mechanism that was activated during this ordeal is worth recognition.
The Civil Defence Commission headed by Lt. Col. Craig along with Major Welcome and Lt. Persaud joined officials of the Regional Administration on that sad Friday morning, visited all the affected areas, coordinated emergency responses, advised residents of necessary precautions and opened Emergency Shelters for affected and displaced residents.
Later that very morning the Guyana Fire Service (Leonora Branch) came out in numbers and assisted the staff at Leonora Comprehensive Diagnostic and Treatment Center (Cottage Hospital) with the cleanup exercise.
The Guyana Police Force ‘D’ Division under the stewardship of Commander Rishie Dass also came out in numbers to lend support. The National Drainage and Irrigation Authority (NDIA – Engineer Lall) stood with us throughout and GUYSUCO (Mr. Mana) quickly responded in the affirmative when approval was needed to use the Community Center as a Shelter and their staff prepared the meals (3 times a day) for the occupants at the Shelter.
The Ministry of Public Infrastructure CORE (Charlene and team) and Sea Defence Department were also with us throughout the ordeal. I believe the CORE groups that came from West Berbice, East Bank Demerara, Essequibo Coast and Leguan deserve a special thank you and I therefore offer it here unconditionally.
Editor, seven Ministers of Government visited (Minister Karen Cummings, Minister Annette Ferguson, Minister Ronald Bulkan, Minister Carl Greenidge (who was acting Prime Minister at the time), Minister Raphael Trotman, Minister Joseph Harmon and Minister David Patterson) the affected communities and every time one showed up decisions were taken on the spot to complement the already existing system thus making the citizens more comfortable.
Close to five hundred homes were attended to by the team that responded to this unfortunate natural disaster and the Regional Administration is very thankful to all who played a role.
Editor, the response was tremendous and it proves beyond all shadows of doubt that the Regional Administration has a powerful, effective, efficient and well-coordinated response mechanism in place.
The Government of Guyana through the Regional Administration headed by Regional Executive Officer Denis Jaikaran along with all the other players did well and even though the NDCs of the areas limited their participation, we are still thankful for their intermittent presence.
Ganesh Mahipaul
Regional Information Officer

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