Gov’t initially ‘mishandled’ `06 flood response -US ambassador said in cable

A year after the worst flood in the country’s recent history devastated areas along the coastland, the administration botched its initial response to the returning heavy rainfall, which necessitated a massive public relations exercise and a relief spending effort.

This was former US Ambassador Roland Bullen’s assessment of the government’s response to the flooding between December 2005 and January 2006, and he suggested that the initial “underestimate” of the situation showed that lessons of the previous year had not been learned.

“What is not questionable is the GoG[Government of Guyana]’s mishandling of the flood situation. After initially dismissing the media’s coverage of the flood problem as overblown, then saying it