The post flood recovery process continues in Regions Seven and Eight as residents have already started rebuilding; this comes even as heavy rainfall caused the water level to rise once again.
Director General of the Civil Defence Commission Colonel (rtd) Chabilall Ramsarup in an invited comment told Stabroek News that efforts were continuing to assist residents of affected villages in both regions. This, he said, included the rebuilding process.
“Most persons have started their repairs already but there were as you know some houses that were completely destroyed and so they would have to start from scratch again. They will have to now identify where they will build their houses as we also asked them if they can build back the houses not in valleys but on higher grounds,” Ramsrup explained.
“They themselves will be doing the building but we are trying to source some power saws and other materials for them.
I have discussed with the Ministry of Communities and they are proposing to teach them to build with bricks rather than using the clay so they would be building back better,” he added.
Furthermore, food supplies continue to be shuttled into those communities in need with the most recent batch been delivered last Friday; a truck had transported supplies to Mahdia from where they were dispatched to the outlying areas.
“We had sent in a team with supplies for them and we still have some more food supplies to take in, so as soon as we get available flights we will take that in for them….
We have also sent in flights to Kato and Kamarang with supplies,” Ramsrup noted. In the meantime, Stabroek News understands that the Ministry of Agriculture has begun providing the regions with farming materials and equipment.
With regard to rehabilitation of public buildings, roads and bridges damaged as a result of the floods, Ramsrup said such works will be undertaken by the Ministry of Public Infrastructure.
Meanwhile, Region Seven Chairman Gordon Bradsford said the situation was similar there as heavy rainfall has caused the water to once again rise. However, it is not expected to reach the height it had previously, he said. Nonetheless, the Regional Democratic Council (RDC) is working assiduously to monitor and prevent outbreaks of any kind in the areas affected, he said. “We continue to monitor and we hope that we don’t have rains like we had before that would cause the same situation again… so far we have been able to transport supplies to areas such as Kangaruma, Isseneru and Kurupung,” Bradsford said.
“It is going to have some medium and long-term effects because in some cases persons would have lost all their crops and so there will be need for food supplies so we will have to continue carrying in supplies as is required.” This being said, the RDC is encouraging public spirited citizens to donate or contribute whatever they can. The heavy rains initially began in Region Eight on May 17, and continued over a period of approximately five days resulting in severe flooding. This resulted in the loss of food security for residents, since the farms in the Upper Mazaruni district were for the most part, completely destroyed.
