Accolades for President and Govt. in Flood Mitigation

Jul 03, 2021 Letters

DEAR EDITOR,

A snap survey about government’s response to the flooding, finds overwhelmingly positive views. President Irfaan Ali and his government have won accolades everywhere and across all communities for their handling of the country’s worst floods. The President, his cabinet, and officials from various ministries were seen visiting flooded areas on the coast and in the interior to mitigate the effects of the flood waters, offering various forms of support and providing relief.
Virtually no one expressed any negative response on how the government has been responding to the flood although almost everyone feels the administration must do more to drain water from their land and provide appropriate assistance to affected communities. Some respondents feel that the government could have made preparation well ahead of the expected rains to reduce the effects of the flooding with better planning and dredging of waterways. Some felt mechanism should have been put in place by succeeding governments to address expected annual flooding and fixed ocean breaches. They call for such planning now to prepare for future heavy rains and accompanying flooding that will happen with greater frequency because of climate change and other factors like high tides. In particular, they say government must perform infrastructure work to remove built up siltation.
This is Guyana’s worst flooding on record. Hydrologists, meteorologists, and civil engineers call it the flood of a century. The President and cabinet were quick to visit affected areas, even hard to reach, remote locations, assessing the situation on the ground and providing needed relief. The President’s response has been described as momentous and decisive. He dispatched Ministers, the PM, heads of department and CDC personnel, medical personnel, and others to affected areas. President Ali visited all regions and flood areas and personally handed out assistance in several locations.
The public thanks the President for his quick response, and the measures he put in place to ameliorate the situation. They salute his hands-on approach. All of the ministers and leadership of regional governments, as well as MPs received kudos for their activism and outreach to help the affected; there was no time to idle. The chairs of Regions Five and Six were singled out for special praise for being on the ground for several hours daily. Some Ministers were also on the ground for several hours each day. Some like Agriculture Minister, Zulfikar Mustapha, Local Government Minister, Nigel Dharamlall, Works Ministers, Juan Edghill and Indar Deodat, the PM, among others, were out daily assessing and responding to infrastructure requests. An assessment is being done to provide some aid.
President Ali has been applauded everywhere for his hands-on approach in addressing the dangers of the flood. He was lauded for directing his cabinet and government officials to visit affected areas to take stock of the situation and oversee relief operations. The President was also seen immersing himself in the dangerous flood waters. Respondents told interviewers that they were very pleased that the government, from the onset of the floods in early June, immediately commenced a massive rescue and relief operation. They express gratitude that the government and some generous individuals and organisations and businesses began providing food and essential items to affected communities. Hampers were distributed all over the country to affected families although some complain it was not enough for their needs. But overall, they are very grateful for the assistance, especially when compared to government’s response to the 2017 flooding on the coast. The Ali government responded efficiently and speedily in contrast with the then government’s response to the 2017 floods. Foreign diplomats and even political opponents also praised the Ali government’s response.
Overall, the public has been pleased with government’s effort in addressing the ongoing month-long flood. In spite of the overwhelming favourable rating of the government’s response to the flood, the public feels more needs to be done to ameliorate ongoing issues. They also feel government should compensate them for damages to property and loss of livestock and crops. The government has agreed to provide some form of assistance to the affected to re-start their lives.

Yours truly,
Dr. Vishnu Bisram

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Accolades for President and Govt. in Flood Mitigation

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