Minister grateful no deaths from Bret

Khan said he was open to correction if any deaths were known. He praised the effort of all municipal corporations.

“The Government is taking an all-government approach to the fallout of Tropical Storm Bret last (Monday) night, which thankfully to the Lord, we were spared its full wrath,” Khan said. “We operate at three levels.

The Office of Disaster Preparedness and Management (ODPM) which deals with disaster management issues; “At the infrastructure level where the Ministry of Works and Transport through the clearing of major water courses and the clearing of roads where there were felled trees, and the Ministry of Rural Development and Local Government as the first responder to this disaster situation.” Khan listed emergency grants available to persons adversely affected by the storm such as an emergency building grant of up to $15,000, from the Ministry of Housing, if persons are qualified.

He listed help from the Ministry of Social Development.

“The more important one of these includes minor house repairs for disaster that has struck to various households, like if your roof has been blown off or if you are flooded out. That reaches to a maximum of $20,000. All those who are affected by the flood can easily access this facility through the required applications.

“Also there’s the household appliances grant, which I think it is $7,000, where if your appliances have been damaged – fridge, stove, what have you – you can also access that grant.” He also announced grants to replace schoolbooks and school uniforms damaged in the storm.

Replying to a supplemental query by Opposition Senator Wade Mark, Khan said no preliminary estimates had yet been done on how many people the storm had affected.

Khan said local corporations are the first responders and that their details will be collated within 48 hours.

Later answering a second question that was previously filed by Opposition Senator Khadijah Ameen on how prepared local corporations were for flooding, Khan said the Tropical Storm Bret was a unique event, and that when a river reaches its full capacity, some overflow of riverbanks invariably occurs in intense rainfall whatever one does, but it quickly subsides.

“I want to compliment all State agencies for how the storm was handled last (Monday) night.” He admitted that maybe more clearing of rivers should be done in the Dry Season rather than the usual last minute scramble that occurs in the West Season.

“Last night showed there was some level of preparation.” He said a million trees are being planted in a reforestation programme by the Ministry of Agriculture.

Khan also urged citizens to be more civic- minded and to not dump litter, saying, “We can’t police you 24 hours a day.”