Cabinet has approved $36M for the task force addressing flooding under the Public Infrastructure Ministry.
Minister David Patterson told Stabroek News yesterday that the task force is set to have its first meeting next week where the process and purpose will be outlined.
He said that the task force will not “eliminate flooding since that depends on factors outside of our control such as climate change etc, however the final plan is expected to ensure we can drain most normal rainfall effectively.”
There has been no update on the progress made by the Foreign Affairs Ministry to assist with engaging the Netherlands for a technical team to assist Guyana.
Patterson had previously stated that the assistance was offered by that country. The Dutch were responsible for designing and building major parts of the drainage infrastructure in Georgetown, which was hardest hit by the two most recent flooding events following heavy rainfall.
“Coming out of this commission I would like a holistic approach which we could act on. It is no use trying to simply do a band aid solution whereby we just continue clearing drains or repairing sluices. The problem is much bigger than that,” he said, adding that the ministry has to give itself time to study the situation and come up with a feasible solution including financing long-term works.
The task force was given a six-month mandate to complete a comprehensive report on flooding throughout Guyana with a focus on the Capital City.
The members of the Public Infrastructure Task Force were identified last month with the minister stating that Major General (rtd) Joe Singh will head the force. Charles Sohan, Malcolm Ali, Andrew Bishop, Stanley Ming, Joseph Holder, Charles Ceres and Dr David Singh have been invited to sit on the task force along with representatives from some key agencies.
Cabinet had approved $75M to be used immediately during flooding in June. The funds were used to clear the four major outbound channels at Kingston, Lamaha Street, Sussex Street and Meadow Bank.
