Preparations advancing for year-end rainy season

Georgetown, GINA, November 15, 2007

“Minister Persaud presented Cabinet with details of the sector’s preparations for the upcoming year-end rainy season. His submission revealed considerable expenditure being made in the coastal regions to do a number of things.”
This was the announcement made by Head of the Presidential Secretariat (HPS) and Cabinet Secretary, Dr. Roger Luncheon at his weekly post-Cabinet media briefing today as he outlined Government’s activities as preparations are being made for the upcoming rainy season with respect to the drainage and irrigation system. This is to ensure that the system could withstand any heavy rainfall during the period.
    He noted that substantial expenditure has been allocated toward ‘rendering the serviceable, the mechanical and electrical machinery and installations in the drainage and irrigation sea and river defence sectors, to rehabilitate the flood control structure and devices, sluices and the pumps, to de-silt and de-weed canals and trenches in the coastal villages, to de-silt outfalls and to create necessary stockpile of supplies needed or likely to be needed during any ontoward consequences’.
Dr. Luncheon pointed out that Cabinet received a submission from Minister of Agriculture, Robert Persaud during its last meeting which focused particularly on the conservancies and ‘recognised that aggressive maintenance work was being done, both within the conservancies and also in discharged channels and canals leading to the Demereara River on the West and the Atlantic Ocean on the North’.
“His submission also highlighted the major earth moving works done in building levees, in raising the height of levees and empoldering vulnerable areas, and emphasised that these works are ongoing,” the HPS said.
As it relates to the persons coordinating the activities, Dr. Luncheon disclosed that
Cabinet has re-appointed the two task forces appointed previously and paid particular attention to the Cabinet task force or oversight body which would once again be chaired by the Prime Minister and whose members would include Ministers Persaud, Benn and Lall and a Representative from the Georgetown Mayor and City Council.

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