rishard.khan@guardian.co.tt
The Ministry of Rural Development and Local Government has received 145 reports of flooding brought on by the recent adverse weather since Wednesday, Minister of Rural Development and Local Government Faris Al-Rawi said during a press conference on Thursday.
He said the majority of reports—135—came on Wednesday during the passage of the tropical wave Invest 91L, while they received ten yesterday as the country continued to feel its effects.
“We did not deal with a storm. We did not deal with a tropical depression. We did not deal with a cyclone. We did not deal with a hurricane. We dealt with weather. We dealt with a lot of rain that we provided notice about,” Al-Rawi said.
He said flooding was witnessed in the Arima Borough Corporation, Chaguanas Borough Corporation, Mayaro Regional Corporation, Sangre Grande, Tunapuna Piarco Regional Corporation and Princes Town Regional Corporation.
“I can tell you Tunapuna/Piarco Regional Corporation had 95 of those events and Sangre Grande Regional Corporation had 23 of those events alone,” he said.
Al-Rawi said over 2,437 sandbags were distributed over the two days.
“To date, in the last two occasions that I have appeared before you, we distributed well over 50,000 sandbags,” he said.
He said there were reports of 30 landslips, with 13 coming from the Sangre Grande Regional Corporation, eight in the San Juan/Laventille Regional Corporation and two in the Diego Martin Regional Corporation.
He said assets were positioned in the landslip-prone areas to respond to incidents such as along the North Coast Road.
“We’re warning Trinidad and Tobago, the soil is saturated and therefore the risk of land slippage on usual suspect areas is going to be high,” he said.
The country remains under both a yellow-level adverse weather and an orange-level riverine flood alert until today and the Office of Disaster Preparedness and Management’s (ODPM) CEO Rodney Smart is urging citizens to heed these warnings.
“Please do not become complacent. Do not become complacent because the rain has stopped. We have been told by the met services that we are at the present time on a yellow level alert. We are also told we are on an orange riverine alert and therefore it means at any point in time the rain can begin pouring again,” he said.
“Because our major rivers are at 80 per cent and in some instances more, it means we have to be so very careful, especially those who live in low-lying areas and around rivers because while water levels will continue to rise, we are at spring tide.
“In addition, we have water that is still coming down from the hills and it is therefore critical that we pay attention to what the met service says to us as well as the ODPM and all other authorities.”
Meanwhile, Al-Rawi said an aggressive campaign will be undertaken to reprimand members of the public who alter water courses and state infrastructure, which compounds the effects of such weather events.
“Illegal intrusions into waterways and affecting public works are going to cause problems. I have already warned and I want to tell you that the information has come to my hand already. We intend to take legal action against people that interfere with roadways, interfere with waterways, going and interfere with public works because what happens is you impact your neighbours,” he said.
St Augustine MP Khadijah Ameen responded to Al-Rawi’s press conference, saying he was wasting time.
Among her criticisms, she said he failed to have shelters in order, evacuation plans for at-risk communities, trucks, backhoes and other equipment to clear debris and landslips.
However, during the press conference, Al-Rawi said the equipment was staged in known landslip-prone areas.
He was also asked about evacuation plans and explained that one was not warranted for this week’s event. He said such plans were implemented when there was the threat of a tropical storm a few months ago.
“We didn’t take this step here on this occasion because it was not and still is not required. What we have is the first responders at level going to work because what we have is a yellow alert on the weather system.”
Ameen also criticised the minister for giving “the impression that all systems are in order for pumps.”
“As of now, areas such as Bamboo Settlement 1, 2, and 3, in the vicinity of Grand Bazaar and other areas within the Caroni River Basin have had mechanical problems with their pumps and flood gates as a result of this Government’s failure to have them maintained,” she said.