The Penal/Debe Regional Corporation has called on the Senior Disaster Coordinator in the Ministry of Local Government to explain to residents of the area who have been affected by floods, how they should adapt to flooding.
Earlier this week Jerry David appeared on CNC3’s The Morning Brew and urged citizens to adapt.
David said, “If there is a fight between man and nature, you know nature will win.”
David also added, “If it is that every two years you are being impacted by this level of water and the water is entering your home and it is destroying your fabric furniture—and many people have fabric furniture; it’s the modern way to have furniture—but perhaps it’s time to adapt more and get different furniture.”
But yesterday chairman Allen Sammy called on David to explain to some 1,000 residents of the corporation who have been affected by flooding how they should adapt.
Sammy said, “Let him tell them that in spite of the millions of dollars spent in household losses which they incurred, for the third and fourth time, in some cases since 2017, that there is nothing he can do. Tell them that as a senior representative of the State, ‘he drop he hand’, and that they will have to live with it.”
The corporation chairman added that after Tropical Storm Brett in 2017, the Penal/Debe area was affected nine times by flooding which resulted in millions of dollars in losses to households and farmers.
He said he proposed a six-point plan to address flooding in 2018 and nothing has been done.
Sammy urged David to encourage the government to not hire another foreign consultant but instead look to regional corporations for solutions to the flooding woes.
UNC Oropouche West MP Devendranath Tancoo has also slammed David for his remarks.