Works Minister inspects pumps in City to ensure they are functioning
Georgetown, GINA, January 15, 2005
All the pumps and sluices are working in and around the City. Earlier today, Minister of Public Works and Hydraulics Anthony Xavier visited several pumps to ensure they are functioning.
“I really wanted to have a first-hand look at the situation so that when the tide is low the water can recede as quickly as possible,” said Minister Xavier.
He inspected several pumps which included Kitty, Lillendaal, John Fernandes, Munsehwar’s and Lamaha, “All of them are working,” confirmed the Minister.
Due to heavy and continuous rainfall over the past 24 hours, there has been floodings in and around the City which affected several roadways and homes. .
However, Minister Xavier wants to assure Guyanese that as soon as the tide is low, the pumps will be in operation.
He alluded to the fact that Government has been taking steps to ease the flooding problems in Georgetown.
A Task Force was established by President Bharrat Jagdeo to examine the causes of flooding in the City and comprised Government Ministers and Georgetown Mayor and City Council officials.
At the conclusion of their investigation, it was discovered that a lack of monitoring and maintenance of the City’s drainage system is the main reason for the recent excessive flooding during the heavy rains.
In his last press conference, on January 12, Cabinet Secretary Dr. Roger Luncheon explained that the report provided the basis for an understanding of why Georgetown floods easily. The Task Force recommends that $200M be spent on the City’s drainage system.
The report also found that the City depended on gravity drainage that relies on the operation of sluices and the movement of tides and the level of water in the drainage system.
“From those disclosures, it was evident that the municipality was not monitoring nor has maintained the system adequately,” Dr. Luncheon said.
He noted that pumps were being damaged by debris and garbage accumulating in their inflow channels and underground sewerage channels were also blocked.
“It is the Administration’s contention that the blame has to be laid squarely at the feet of the municipal authority,” Dr. Luncheon said.
He noted that the Administration has had no other recourse but to organise a Government/Private Sector response to plan and implement mechanical cleansing of drains, underground channels and outfalls and to undertake to rehabilitate malfunctioning mechanical pumps.
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Parents urged to keep children indoors
Georgetown, GINA, January 15, 2005
Minister of Health, Dr. Leslie Ramsammy is urging all parents to keep their children indoors until flood waters recede.
He added that children especially are vulnerable to water-borne diseases such as diarrhoea.
Several areas in Georgetown, the East Coast and East Bank of Demerara are flooded due to heavy rainfall.
The Minister and his team visited a number of areas to assess the situation and to put measures in place to prevent diseases and infections.
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Government complied with accounting procedures in discrepancies at Wildlife
Georgetown, GINA, January 15, 2005
Head of the Presidential Secretariat and Cabinet Secretary Dr. Roger Luncheon has maintained that Government acted within accounting procedures and operating standards with regard to the discrepancies cited at the Wildlife Division between 1998 and 2002.
Speaking at his weekly post-Cabinet media briefing last Wednesday, Dr. Luncheon said that the Auditor General’s Report that indicated the discrepancies was submitted to the Speaker of the National Assembly and will be the subject of discussions at the Public Accounts Committee later. At that time Accounting Officers at the Wildlife Division will be summoned to defend the accounts reflected.
The report submitted to the Speaker covers the period of 2002-2004. The discrepancies were cited in 2002.
He noted that the Office of the President was aware of the discrepancies after they occurred, as they were reported in an earlier Auditor General Report. Dr. Luncheon noted that the Office of the President had identified a serious fraud, which led to the arrest and charge of the then accountant. The Secretary to the Cabinet (Dr. Luncheon) also terminated the contract of the then Head of the Wildlife Management Authority Mr. Bal Persaud, which fell under the purview of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Subsequently, Cabinet directed that the EPA be supervised and controlled by the Office of the President.
What the Auditor General disclosed in 2002 was the absence of a cashbook in the accounting operations of the Wildlife Management Authority. It was revealed that some $50M was unaccounted for in the accounts of the Authority. The matter was taken to Court and the accountant charged.
Yesterday, President Bharrat Jagdeo directed Dr. Luncheon to request the Guyana Police Force to investigate the discrepancies.
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Heavy rains not affecting all Regions
Georgetown, GINA, January 15, 2005
Reports received from several Regions in the country disclose that not all Regions are being affected by heavy rains.
Regional Chairman of Region Two (Pomeroon/ Supenaam), Ali Baksh, has said that besides two minor breaches, no flooding has taken place there generally.
He said that there was heavy rainfall between 12 midnight and today and due to the excess water, a minor breach occurred at the main conservancy canal dam. This resulted in some water accumulating in the Golden Fleece Housing area.
According to the Chairman, there was also another minor breach at Zorg Mari’s Lodge area. However, this was sealed within 24 hours at a cost of $1.2M.
He said the breach affected a few areas and some residents claimed minor damages, including those to some kitchen gardens and poultry.
A workforce is presently engaged in sealing the breach at Golden Fleece and there have not been any reports of damages so far.
In Region Six ( East Berbice/ Corentyne), though there is rainfall at present, no flooding has occurred.
This is according to Regional Executive Officer, Nandkishore Persaud, who pointed out that some low-lying areas were pumped recently and the pumps were stopped two days ago. They will be restarted today. He said that the Region received reports of cases of diarrhoea in some areas. However, after a team was dispatched to check on this, it reported that there is no reason to be alarmed. A doctor on the team also said that slight cases of diarrhoea may occur due to the rainy season.
The Region Six administration continues to monitor the situation.
Meanwhile, reports from Region Five (Mahaica/ Berbice) indicated that there has been no flooding there. The others Regions could not be reached for a comment.
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