Flood victims get food

Member of Parliament Roger Boynes yesterday continued what he termed a three-pronged relief drive to alleviate problems caused by severe flooding in east Trinidad — including Sangre Grande, Valencia and Matelot. Boynes said: “We are making an extra effort here to ensure that all the people who have been affected are compensated quickly so that they can get back on their feet as soon as possible.” Since Friday, Boynes and his team have been distributing hampers at the Sangre Grande Regional Corporation with the aid of the corporation’s chairman, Ronald Boynes. MP Boynes explained that the hamper distribution was only one part of the solution and that he had also initiated a clean-up exercise and a damage evaluation process.

He explained: “There is also a clean-up exercise and in that regard we have the fire services washing down all the various places like the schools which are most important. We have also mobilised the insect vector unit to sanitise and disinfect the areas. Compensation to the flood victims in terms of assessing them on a house-to-house basis is also being done.”

MP Boynes said that members from the Office of Disaster Preparedness and officials from the Ministry of Social Development were assessing all the damage and that the El Reposo Department of the Agriculture Ministry had sent inspectors to assess the losses of farmers, with respect to their crops and livestock. (On Wednesday, it had been reported that three cows had drowned in the flood.) Boynes said that the relief effort would be concluded today but that the sanitisation process would continue until tomorrow or Tuesday and as a result all affected schools would not be reopened until Thursday.