Minister Al-Rawi failed to visit the people of Rock Road, Clarke Road and Barrackpore that were under more than four to six feet of water making it impossible for trucks to traverse the Rock Road. Thousands of residents including school children were affected including those who traverse the area to get to their work destinations every day. “No society that that is people centered should tolerate this alienation” remarked Chairman of the Penal Debe Regional Corporation, Alderman Gowtam Maharaj.
Al-Rawi remarks labelling the affected areas as Atlantis City has angered residents, one farmer lamented that “the Ministers remarks were insensitive equating their plight to a fairy tale when in reality some farmers will be restarting their lives from scratch.”
“There is no willingness on the part of the government to implement the engineering solutions required to address this flooding nightmare. The PDRC has been appealing to the Ministry of Works and Transport to maintain the floodgates and clean the complete length of two major rivers – Coromata and Congo-that flow from the forests in Moruga but to no avail,” said Councilor Sarah Sookdeo and recommends that “State lands can be acquired and retention ponds be built to trap and control the flow of water. This water can then be used for agriculture and recreation.
Chairman Gowtam Maharaj was incensed with the negative impact of land developers who are “indiscriminate in their pursuit of their private goals and ambition.” Lands are being graded and water courses are being narrowed and blocked. “Strong actions will be taken to regulate these developments which are working against the welfare of the people.”
When asked about the support from CEPEP, Councilor Sookdeo said that “one crew came and cut about four hundred yards of grass along the road edge, cleaned a yard and left.” Councilor Sookdeo continued “that the one hundred hampers from the ODPM had to be shared between four electoral districts”, some additional were procured by the PDRC and the expenditure communicated to the Ministry for monies to be released to cover same” .
As I drove along the Rock Road, there was not much signs of a recent flood. The resilience of the people put them back on their feet. Debe/Penal is one of the few economic growth poles in the country that the powers that be must learn to live with.
When there were food shortages during the Second World War and food had to be rationed, it was the people of the Oropouche Lagoon that fed the nation. It was those families that sold their vegetables on the streets of San Fernando (Micheal Anthony’s A Year in San Fernando) who went on to pioneer businesses in San Fernando. Al-Rawi should have identified his ancestral roots in similar circumstances but he is an example of those who wish to distance themselves from their past in the lagoons and cane fields- running away from their shadows (V.S. Naipaul’s Mimic Men).
The whistle has blown and the race is on…my bet is on Penal-Debe and I am waiting at the finish line to embrace the victor!
