In a move welcomed by Sangre Grande residents, the Ministry of Rural Development and Local Government is taking a proactive stance on flood preparedness.
Minister Khadijah Ameen joined community leaders in Sangre Chiquito today as part of the government’s flood mitigation and shelter management exercise.
Long-time resident Peetam Boodram stated, “Well, this is a good start. Remember, elections were just about a couple of weeks and the Minister is here. I’m surprised to see her here. I mean, normally you don’t see them on the ground. And it’s very nice to see the Councillors, the Ministers, all of them present to see the start of this work.”
The Member of Parliament for Cumuto/Manzanilla, Shivanna Sam, said this proactive approach before rains started in earnest was appreciated.
“We are being proactive this time. We are not waiting for the flooding to actually occur to spring into action. So we are doing the work before the heavy rains come down, and we are hoping and we expect that this time we will have a decrease in flooding. Lezama Trace has historically been heavily affected by the flooding, and so this will bring a great sense of relief to the residents finally after many, many years of neglect.”
Minister Ameen added that this new approach would even include how knowledge will be shared with people living in areas that needed the information.
“So we will shift our communication strategy away from big advertising and go into communities. We will visit homes, we will deliver literature into mailboxes, we will go into schools, we will use the community micing system where the mic cars make announcements, and we will keep community meetings with regards to disaster response, with regards to our shelters and how people in the community are expected to operate during a time of disaster. So we’re really moving away from the big advertising which will save the government quite a lot of money.”
Chairman of the Sangre Grande Regional Corporation, Kenwyn Phillip, shared that Minister Ameen’s experience in Local Government would provide a firm foundation to operate with empathy and efficiency.
“They always say experience is one’s greatest teacher and I know the MP that we have now, the Minister, she would have been in flood waters from 2018 coming forward in her term as a Councillor. So I know she can relate to some of the issues and I am positively and confident that the Minister will deliver to local government. So I am pleased.”
Minister Ameen stated that the Ministry has a schedule in place and will be visiting every Corporation.