For those in the Linden area who awoke after 48 hours of non-stop rain to find their furniture and belongings under water and their electrical goods damaged, there can be little consolation in the accusations being traded between the government and the local authorities. Prime Minister Mark Phillips quickly set the tone by insisting that, “From all indications, the areas affected by flooding are a direct result of the ineptitude of the current Mayor and Councillors who are focused on collecting revenues from all possible sources while failing to maintain the drainage infrastructure essential for the safety of the residents now suffering from the floods.”
He claimed that central government officials had observed the municipality’s neglect of the drainage during a previous visit, and had initiated a clean-up of drains in the central Mackenzie areas, including, he added slyly, in front of the Mayor’s office, as part of the preparations for the Independence flag-raising ceremony. What needed to be addressed, therefore, he said, was the dereliction of local and regional government in Region Ten and Linden, describing their “collective failure to perform their duties” as “unacceptable.”
Agriculture Minister Zulfikar Mustapha wasted no time in making his contribution, again laying emphasis on the failure of local democratic organs to maintain the internal drainage system. The National Drainage and Irrigation Authority regularly clears the main canals, he averred, and since the local authorities did not execute their drainage work in time, “we have to step in.”
None of this corresponded to what the various local officials had to say, or to Opposition Leader Aubrey Norton’s views either. Their combined opinion was that the flooding could have been averted and that it only occurred because of the government’s failure to act on the proposals which had been put to it. Region Ten Chairman Deron Adams, for example, referred to critical infrastructure projects which the government had not addressed despite repeated requests to do so. “We live in a hilly sand and clay region; we should invest in drainage that accompanies our roads that are being constructed. In 2021, 2022 and 2023, the government has awarded 3 drains per year for Region 10, out of the 50 something we requested, consecutively, one per year,” he was quoted as saying.
With reference to the Disaster Preparedness Committee, he explained it was headed by the Regional Chairman with the Vice Chairman as the alternate. It also included the Regional Executive Officer, who is a government appointee and transmits government money and executes projects. However, he said, “what we have seen is the government hijacking the process, attempting to put political people, rather than use the elected councillors who are au fait with the area to reach out to those in need.”
Linden Mayor Sharma Solomon had similar observations to make. In his case we reported him as deploring the lack of control over local Community Development Councils and Community Infrastructure Improvement Programme workers, who were only deployed after the flooding had already taken place. The government had failed to collaborate with the local authorities, he said, and quoted cases where CDC works had been hampered on account of government interference.
Giving a case by case account of what had happened in the constituencies in the Region, he said that the Kara Kara Creek clean up began when there was flag-raising, and it still had not been completed; in Noitgedacht there had been no works undertaken by the CDC for the past two years because of government interference with the latter groups; where Silvertown and the Valleys were concerned there had also been no works done over the past couple of months to prepare for the rainy season because government was in full control of those areas. It was either neglect or political manoeuvring which accounted for flooding in all affected Linden constituencies, said Mr Solomon.
The Opposition Leader largely echoed what the other two officials had to say, alleging that the main reason for the drainage problems was the withholding of resources to the Regional and Local Authorities, and the allocation of funds to political activists instead of those competent to do the work. He also criticised the government for its reactive rather than proactive approach to crisis management. “I am aware that the Region and the Town Council all indicated to the government the need for funding to ensure that the outfalls are clear. The PM knows fully well it is not the fault of the Town Council, it is the fault of the government which does not want to give the Town Council the resources to be able to undertake the job that is needed,” he was quoted as saying.
It is no secret that local government is dysfunctional, despite years of discussions between the two main parties which finally led to reforms. However, these did not go far enough to allow for true devolution, and the central government still has the power to control the regions and the towns, in the case of the former through the agency of the REO whom it appoints.
The Council is supposedly the policy-making body which informs the Regional Executive Officer about what needs to be done. He or she, however, as already said, takes instructions from central government, and is the agent through whom the funding is provided.
Since the government holds the purse strings it has managed to strangle any ambitious (as well as not-so-ambitious) Council in terms of the efficient discharge of its duties. PPP/C administrations have been notoriously obstructive where opposition councils, both regional and urban, are concerned, the case of Georgetown being the prime example. The capital too, has not been provided with the resources to carry out its functions.
In terms of what has happened in Linden, what Messrs Adams and Solomon have had to say has a very familiar ring about it, while the Prime Minister’s response is the standard one in such situations. It is all part of the political game: resources are not provided, so the officials cannot do their duty, but then they are blamed for work which cannot be done. After that, the government swoops in to undertake projects it claims the local authority was too incompetent to take on.
One suspects that this is what has happened in Linden. Since there will never be an official inquiry, the various officials should provide the public with a detailed account of what has happened based on their written records. Give a chronology of events, and times and precise references for the fifty odd drains requested of the Government, and the three they approved, for example. In addition they should make available particulars of the other complaints which they have made and when they occurred, all of which are also hopefully on record. When dealing with the central government, matters should never be allowed to deteriorate to a ‘he said, she said’ story; there should always be a paper trail of some sort. If there isn’t, then it becomes very difficult to disentangle truth from fabrication.
The Linden Regional Coordinator and Head of the PPP in Region Ten Andrew Forsythe, iterated the official line that there was need for greater action from the RDC and Town Council where drainage was concerned, and that they should prioritise the community over political interests. We reported him as calling for a move away from divisive attitudes and emphasizing the President’s efforts to promote national unity. While this sounds very commendable, what he has to remember is that the onus for moving away from divisive attitudes rests in the first instance with whomever holds the power, and in this instance it is central government, i.e. the PPP/C.
The people of Linden do not want to be subjected to another flood like this one because the government will not work with the local authorities.
