Gov’t assures all is being done to ensure floodwaters recede

Minutes after the Hydromet Office released a flood warning which stated that another 12 hours of rainfall is expected with accumulation of water between 25.0 mm and 100.0 mm, the Government is assuring citizens that the major Ministries are working to ensure that the floodwaters recede during the latter half of the day.

In a statement, Minister of State, Joseph Harmon, said the Government is taking every step to ensure that there is minimum loss or damage to property and expects the water to begin to recede once the tide changes.

He said the Ministries of Public Infrastructure, Communities and the Mayor and City Council have put measures in place to ensure that as soon as the tide changes the water will be drained off of the land within a reasonable timeframe.

The Minister added that all pumps and sluices are operable and that the Civil Defence Commission’s (CDC) Emergency Operations Centre has been activated in other parts of the country to monitor the situation.

Colonel (ret’d) Chabilall Ramsarup, Director General of the CDC said that his officers are currently on the ground gathering information from all the affected regions.

He also said that some communities in West Berbice are experiencing flooding and the National Drainage and Irrigation Authority has dispatched two excavators to bring relief to those areas.

Meanwhile, the Minister of Public Infrastructure, Mr. David Patterson, said his Ministry is currently doing on-the-ground assessments and will release a full statement during the latter half of the day.

In the city, Town Clerk, Mr. Royston King said that while all the drainage pumps are operable, the city engineers are in the field clearing blockages and chokes in canals.

“We will continue to monitor the situation. Our engineers continue to monitor the situation and we will keep the public informed as we go along. The city engineers are in communication with the Ministry of Public Infrastructure and the Ministry of Agriculture,” Mr. King said.

The Town Clerk also used the opportunity to call on citizens “not to dump garbage in waterways so that we can have a free flow of water when we have these situations”. Citizens are also being called on to take precautionary measures as this pattern of rainfall pattern can be expected for several more days, during the remainder of the month.

According to the Hydromet office, the highest rainfall in the past 24 hours was reported at Hibernia in Region 2 with 89.0 mm and rainfall is expected to continue over the next 3-5 days in regions 4 and 5.