Kamla seeks flood-relief

SIPARIA MP, Kamla Persad-Bissessar, is calling on the authorities to render immediate flood-relief to her constituents affected by heavy rains over the Divali weekend. She said the rains fell from Friday to Sunday. “Roads were flooded, and traffic was impossible; people were stranded in their homes and traumatised because of rising waters.” She lamented that residents suffered heavy losses in their agricultural produce and livestock. Bissessar said: “heaviest losses were experienced in terms of household items such as appliances, beds, furniture, stoves and refrigerators, foodstuff, et cetera.”

The poor, she said, had suffered worst through having built their houses on low-lying areas. “The flood waters have not receded entirely and there is the ever present danger of stagnant water posing problems for the people’s health.” She said constituents feared an outbreak of cholera and other diseases, caused by an overflowing of sewerage systems. The Government’s recent flood assistance to Tobago, and aid to Caricom neighbours, had made her constituents optimistic of getting similar help. Persad-Bissessar said her constituents felt worse off than the Tobago flood victims. “Today vast areas of similar geographical elevation form a basin in which receding waters have accumulated without flowing out.”

These areas in her constituency included Rochard Road, Penal Rock Road, Clarke Road, Mulchan Trace, Ramdharry Trace, and Monkey Town. Bissessar stated: “Apart from the immediate inconvenience of being unable to commute to schools and places of work, there are more permanent hardships. People have lost beds, furniture, household items, and agricultural produce.” She urged the authorities, including Prime Minister Patrick Manning and Minister of Works Franklin Khan, to provide immediate relief to the flood victims and to take measures to prevent any repeated flooding in the future. Manning and Khan are due to tour flood-hit areas of Barrackpore in the Siparia Constituency today.