‘Stop the blame game, let’s get to work’ – PM Phillips tells officials in Region 10

Jun 01, 2024 News

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Linden floods…

Kaieteur News – Prime Minister Brigadier (ret’d) Mark Phillips has called on the Municipality of Linden and other regional bodies to “Stop the blame game” and properly maintain the town’s drainage infrastructure to alleviate the reoccurrence of floods.

“Drainage and irrigation in a place like Linden are a public good and a public service that must be provided for all of the people,” the Prime Minister said noting that the Regional Democratic Council (RDC), the Mayor and the City Council failed the people of Linden.

“We here at Central Government are intervening and we want to work with the Regional Democratic Council and Mayor and Town Council to ensure that we fix this once and for all,” the Prime Minister added.

Several communities in the mining town including Kara Kara and Rainbow City, Victory Valley, Speightland and Noitgedacht were inundated following heavy rainfall early this week.

The residents, many of whom have suffered losses, have cast blame at the feet of both the regional and central government. The angry residents expressed disappointment at the prolonged neglect of the town’s drainage and irrigation systems and the lack of preparation by the authorities for the May/June rains.

Linden Mayor Sharma Solomon threw the blame on Central Government. He said the government has been neglecting the drainage and irrigation system and there has been no desilting of the creek that would have allowed for the water to drain quickly.

He said the central government “failed to do consultative work so that we could have said to them Hymara Creek is a creek that should have been cleared, now look [at] the condition of the place.”

Further, in a statement issued on Thursday, Solomon accused the government’s mismanagement of services that were removed by the Ministry of Local Government from the oversight of the Town Council’s mandate as stipulated in Chapter 28:01 (Municipal and District Councils Act).

“These responsibilities were instead given to Community development councils [CDC] and the CIIP Project, which includes the cleaning and maintenance of drains, cleaning of soakaways and even parapets,” he said.

Solomon said that the Council at its last statutory meeting highlighted the root cause of floods lie in long-standing neglect and inadequate infrastructural works.

“Despite repeated requests for support and intervention even for the Linden Town Week preparations, from higher levels of government, the Council has not received the necessary resources and attention to address these needs,” the Mayor stated.

He added, “The recent floods have exposed the deficiencies in our drainage systems, the inadequacy of our erosion control measures, and the overall fragility of our infrastructure with the need for studies of drainage networks across the town. These problems are not new; they are the result of years of underinvestment and neglect.”

Solomon pleaded for assistance to be provided to the residents who have suffered losses as a result of the floods.

“Our requests for additional resources and assistance have been met with delays and insufficient support, leaving our community to bear the brunt of this catastrophe with limited means. This is not a time for political gamesmanship; it is a time for unified action and solidarity to alleviate the suffering of our people,” he said.

Meanwhile, the Prime Minister who was accompanied by the Minister of Public Works Juan Edghill, visited the affected communities which included Fairs Rust, Watooka, Kara Kara, Victory Valley, Bucktown, and Noitgedact.

The Prime Minister said that the government officials observed the drainage and irrigation issue during a recent visit to the town and this prompted a clean-up of drains in central Mackenzie, including in front of the Mayor’s office, in preparation for the 58th Independence Anniversary Flag Raising Ceremony last Saturday.

He stressed that all levels of government, from local municipalities to regional bodies and the central administration, must work collaboratively to enhance the region’s disaster preparedness and response capabilities.

“What we need in Region 10 is to stop the blame game and get to work,” the Prime Minister said in a statement issued on his Facebook page adding that leaders must be proactive in disaster preparedness.

“If you’re serious about development, and you’re planning for development, you have to plan for disasters, because disasters disrupt the development process,” Prime Minister Phillips said.

Further, the Prime Minister urged residents to take responsibility by properly disposing their garbage and by cleaning the drains near their properties.

Meanwhile, Minister Edghill noted that to alleviate the problems, the Central Government, the National Drainage and Irrigation Authority (NDIA), the Civil Defence Commission (CDC), the Ministry of Public Works, and regional bodies have initiated urgent and critical drainage works and infrastructural works through a multi-agency approach.

The NDIA is currently working with Community Development Council (CDC) groups, while the Ministry of Public Works has mobilised machinery to desilt canals. The CDC has also supplied essentials for affected residents.

BOSAI Mineral Group has since deployed two hydraulic excavators to assist with de-bushing and materials to construct a temporary cofferdam to aid in the diversion of the floodwaters.

 

 

 

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• Floods, irrigation, Linden, Minister of Public Work Juan Edghill, Prime Minister (PM) Brigadier Mark Phillips

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