Residents of the East Bank Demerara communities of Peters Hall and Providence and parts of Republic Park and Nandy Park came face to face, one week ago, with the effects of a broken local government system. While many of them were asleep, sea water inundated their yards, homes and roadways at about 04:00 am on Thursday 9th October, 2014.
Flood water rose to over a metre in many homes, leaving untold damage in its wake. Affected households suffered considerable financial losses owing to damage to their electrical appliances, furniture, foodstuff, clothing, water pumps, tools, personal effects, livestock, gardens, etc.
When the flood water receded, it left behind several centimetres of mud and sludge as well as a foul smell for the hapless victims to contend with. The cleanup cost to individual households is enormous. The anguish, frustration and emotional toll may never be known. The pain of the many affected persons was palpable.
Residents living in close proximity of the sluice reported that around 01:30 am on Thursday, October 9th, the sluice attendant was shouting to residents to be aware that they were going to be flooded as workers who were on site “did not know what they were doing.” After shouting his warning, the attendant left the area.
What had happened was that, while seeking to fit in place the emergency planks which would act as a temporary gate, the workers who were deployed to do this job had removed entirely the sluice gate! They were unable to fit the temporary planks before the tide started to come in hence there was a clear passage for the water to flow. Had the damaged gate not being removed ― and there was no absolute necessity to do so ― the severity of the flooding would have been far less.
Residents are still in the process of counting their losses. A Partnership for National Unity – APNU – anticipates that this could be upwards of $100 M, apart from the human toll. A rough assessment of the cost of intervention which includes hiring and deploying of an excavator from the evening of 8th October until the new gate is installed (approx. two weeks), deploying of a mobile (“Surendra”) pump, procuring planks for the emergency gate, wages for a crew of workers to fit/remove the temporary planks at each tidal cycle, supervision, etc could conceivably exceed $25M. Replacing the entire gate in a timely manner would have cost a small fraction of the emergency intervention. Two additional deeply worrying revelations have surfaced. These are:
– the cutting down recently of about 400 metres of mangrove trees on the sea dam immediately north of this koker and of which the Chairman of the NDC (IMC) is claiming ignorance, and,
– the de-commissioning of the kokers immediately north and south of this one, having being sold to private individuals.
The view is held that both factors led to excess strain on the koker causing it to fail. The residents of the communities in question are demanding to know the truth behind the above.
The evidence is convincing that it is human error or more specifically, government’s willful negligence and other culpable actions that has led to damage and financial losses to citizens due to flooding.
Local government and the wider and more all-embracing system of local democracy are neither child’s play nor a figment of anyone’s imagination. They are not a concoction of the opposition to reduce the powers of the central government.
Local government, as defined by the Constitution of the Cooperative Republic of Guyana, “…is an integral part of the democratic organization of the State.”[Art. 12]. Further, Chapter VII of the Constitution, titled “Local Democracy” and sub-titled “Local Democratic Organs” states, at Art. 71, that:
– “Local Government is a vital aspect of democracy and shall be organized so as to involve as many people as possible in the task of managing and developing the communities in which they live.” It goes on to state at 71. (2),
– “For this purpose, Parliament shall provide for the institution of a country-wide system of local government through the establishment of organs of local democratic power as an integral part of the political organization of the State.”
Residents in the affected East Bank communities, as a result of being denied and deprived of their constitutional right to “manage and develop the communities in which they live” have been made to suffer. The real tragedy of the ‘Peters Hall calamity’ is that it was preventable; it was a man-made and not a natural disaster. While the cause of the flooding resulted from the damaged sluice gate (koker door) due to lack of maintenance and neglect by the authorities, a human cause, it was the bungling that followed the initial discovery that caused the severity of flooding and resultant extensive damages to property.
APNU is convinced that the Ministry of Local Government and Regional Development has a moral responsibility, in the circumstances of the ‘Peters Hall calamity’, to provide humanitarian relief and compensation to affected persons. APNU stands by the side of residents of these communities who have suffered losses and will join them in demanding that they receive compensation from the government.
Similar calamities have occurred in communities all across the country. President Donald Ramotar promised three years ago to hold local government elections within a year of being elected. He has broken his promise. APNU demands that he must name a date for local government elections.
He must also operationalize the Local Government Commission without delay. Failure to effect these will ensure further human calamities, suffering and financial losses.
Reject PPP/C domination of local government organs. Vote APNU for the empowerment of residents.
