Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar says more must be done to ensure that flooding in T&T is significantly reduced. She said that at a news conference at the Diplomatic Centre yesterday following a stakeholders' meeting. The meeting was held to update the Prime Minister on the state of readiness for the hurricane season which officially began on June 1. She said there was need for improvement in the way the agencies and citizens of T&T responded to natural disasters, including flooding. "It is most important that we are more prepared to deal with such emergencies when they arise," she added. Persad-Bissessar said additional money was allocated to assist in improving the drainage network across the country.
Also at the news conference was CEO at the Office of Disaster Preparedness and Disaster Management, Dr Stephen Ramroop, who said the stakeholder agencies were ready to deal with any natural disaster in T&T. He said among initiatives to be implemented was an early-warning system, He said telephone providers would be used to ensure text messages were sent to citizens to take certain measures in the advent of a natural disaster. President of the Supermarkets Association, Vernon Persad, said in the case of a natural disaster members would ensure food supplies were provided to affected nationals within 20 minutes.