Japan has made approximately US$1m available to boost Guyana’s National Flood Early Warning System, the Ministry of Agriculture said yesterday in a release.
This was disclosed by Agriculture Minister Zulfikar Mustapha during a virtual handing-over exercise.
Mustapha noted that the recent flooding which has been declared as a national disaster has highlighted the need for a well-developed and operational National Flood Early Warning System.
“The handing over of this National Flood Early Warning System comes as a critical point for Guyana. The recent flooding which has been declared as a national disaster has highlighted the need for a well-developed and operational National Flood Early Warning System. Such a system would provide opportunities for climate change adaptation and resilience benefits while at the same time improving disaster preparedness, and reducing the costs associated with response/relief and reconstruction,” Mustapha said.
He stated that Guyana is experiencing the worst flood on record, in terms of scale and that recovering from this event will require Government and the Ministry of Agriculture to redirect resources to address the challenges posed by the current situation, affecting planned interventions. Furthermore, Mustapha said that the development of a National Early Warning System is imperative to Guyana’s development.
The release said that the multifunctional system is expected to improve community preparedness for extreme weather events.
Mustapha said that in order to develop a full-fledged Flood Early Warning System, significant human, technical and capital investments are required.
“The Government of Guyana recognizes that today’s handing over does not represent the development and launch of a full-fledged Flood Early Warning System for every corner of Guyana. There is still a long road ahead that would require significant human, technical, and capital investments to ensure that we have a truly comprehensive system in place. While the current system still requires much more work beyond what has already been achieved, we believe that it sets a strong foundation upon which a comprehensive system can be built. This system, when coupled with the current work being done under the Climate Risk and Early Warning System (CREWS) initiative for the development of a national Multi-Hazard Early Warning System (MHEWS), will significantly advance Guyana’s climate resilience,” he added.
