The Ministry of Rural Development and Local Government will procure eight rescue boats equipped with engines, aimed at bolstering flood relief efforts across vulnerable communities.
This was confirmed by Senior Disaster Management Coordinator at the Ministry, Jerry David, while speaking to TTT News during a full-scale emergency simulation exercise hosted by SEWA TT on Sunday.
He emphasised the urgency and strategic planning behind the initiative.
“So we always have to be in to rescue people. So the Ministry, in this year’s budget, we have allocated some funds to buy about eight rescue boats with engines. But you may ask, well, if we have the rescue boats and the engines, are we training the personnel? Yes. We have swimming courses that are starting in about two weeks’ time in the Tunapuna-Piarco area. And this is not the first set of training, we have done that before.”
The boats are expected to be deployed before the end of the financial year, with priority given to flood-prone regions such as Penal-Debe, Sangre Grande, and Tunapuna-Piarco.
Mr. David stressed that the initiative is not just about equipment but about building a trained, responsive network of community volunteers.
“We have had many of the individuals who are CERT volunteers, some of them who work at the Corporations, we have had them do training with the Trinidad and Tobago Coast Guard in vessel familiarisation, what to do when a vessel flips, what to do when you have to drag someone from the floodwaters into the vessel. So we have done the training, and we will continue to do the training. Hopefully we can get these eight rescue boats purchased before the end of the financial year.”