President convenes meeting after visiting flood affected areas
President Irfaan Ali on Friday afternoon convened a meeting with key Ministers of Government, the Civil Defense Commission (CDC) and other stakeholders to address the issues faced by citizens.
Earlier, the President visited Mahaicony Creek, Region Five to assess severe flooding in the area which resulted from heavy and persistent rainfall along with above normal high tides.
Communities along the Mahaicony River are among several across the country affected by severe flooding over the past few days leading to losses of livestock, cash crops and even homes.
Accompanying the Head of State were Chief of Staff of the Guyana Defence Force, Brigadier Godfrey Bess; Director General of the Civil Defence Commission (CDC), Mr Kester Craig; Minister within the Ministry of Public Works, the Honourable Deodat Indar; Regional Chairman, Vickchand Ramphal, and representatives from the Mahaica-Mahaicony-Abary Development Authority.
Residents expressed their gratitude for the President’s visit and said that they were also thankful for the consistent assistance that they have been receiving from the CDC and the RDC.
President Ali assured them that there would be continuous monitoring from both the CDC and the RDC, and that the ongoing relief efforts would continue until the floodwaters recede.
Already the CDC has started taking supplies to communities in Region Nine including cement.
The Director General of the CDC in an invited comment on Friday said “what we find is in a lot of cases, the farmlands are mostly affected but there are others where the homes are affected. The Commission has been working with all ten administrative regions to ensure that the regional response mechanism is activated and they’re responding in a coordinated manner with the programme heads…working together to respond.”
One of the most affected Region is the Upper Takutu/Upper Essequibo (Region 9) where the CDC has established temporary shelters where a total of five persons housed at the shelter. Food supplies and cleaning supplies have also been purchased to be given to the residents.
On Thursday, the Director General and a team visited flood-affected Bartica, Region Seven to conduct a flood impact assessment. Relief items have since been sent to the region.
Hampers were also sent to Region Ten on Thursday where residents are severely affected by the adverse weather conditions. The CDC conducted assessments and distributed cleaning hampers to impacted villages in Upper Demerara/Upper Berbice (Region 10). Hampers were given to the Regional Democratic Council (RDC) for Silvertown/Silver City, and to the Community Development Councils of Three Friends, and Coomaka.
The National Drainage and Irrigation Authority (NDIA) has dug several drains to help alleviate the flooding in that community. Additionally, a large tube has been installed under the roadway to help with water recession. Older tubes have incurred some damages and is currently being repaired. Assessments in Malali, Muritaro, Watooka and Notting Hampshire will be conducted subsequently.
