Leader of A Partner for National Unity David Granger said his party stands prepared to assist government with a comprehensive National Flood Control Plan as it has already started one of its own.
“APNU repeats its call of the PPP/C to promulgate a National Flood Control Master Plan that must comprehend the consequences of climate change that are so evident to everyone else,” he said on Friday.
Further he added, “Such a plan must be capable of anticipating the monthly cycle flooding and of notifying citizens early of the onset of extreme weather and the threat of flooding…,” he added.
Granger said several engineers had approached him and explained the need to have a holistic plan to deal with flooding as the problem was a countrywide one and not limited to the city and coastland. He said while he cannot guarantee the services of any individual his party was prepared to share its knowledge with government with the aim that recommendations be implemented to prevent and cope with floods. “You can’t make a prognosis without a good diagnosis,” Granger posited.
He pointed out that a compensatory route after floods was not a way in dealing with floods because he feels that in Guyana the monies used to do this can be channelled to help prevent flooding in the first place.
The APNU leader stated that he believed that much of the discomfort caused by the recent floods has been as a result of mismanagement and neglect of government.
He expressed dismay when he told by a reporter that while blame is given to the meteorologist department of non-notification that department has said it is directed by the Ministry of Agriculture who must first vet alerts before dispatching same to the public.
Stabroek News understands that the hydromet office cannot independently issue notifications or warnings of impending disasters to the public.
“It takes away time because when you have them seeing a storm developing at let’s say [at] 1 am and then sending their report to Agriculture for them to send it out, but they not doing it until they come to work at 8 am, it’s a problem,” one source said.
