Continuous rainfall over the past week along with high tides has resulted in flooding in Regions One, Two, Three, Four, Five, Six, Seven, Nine, and 10. Several communities have experienced extreme flooding, including Kwakwani, Black Bush Polder, Bartica, Hosororo, and Aishalton among others.
There has been disruption to lives and livelihoods, considerable damage to property, and loss of crops and livestock.
The A Partnership for National Unity + Alliance for Change (APNU+AFC) says that a public health crisis is developing with “dead livestock rotting in the floodwaters in a number of areas”.
“The APNU+AFC Coalition empathizes with the thousands of persons who have been adversely affected and asks that you take all necessary precautions to ensure you remain safe from contracting potential illness or disease as a result of exposure to the floodwaters. While the Civil Defence Commission has been responding, such response is insufficient and inadequate,” the party said.
It added, “thousands of citizens who have been adversely affected and who are trapped in the floodwaters are in dire need of urgent relief and assistance. Addressing the nationwide flood situation requires a national coordinated effort at the executive level.”
The coalition was quick to point out that people are suffering from extreme flooding, including in areas that are not known to be prone to flooding.
This, the coalition said, is a result of the “PPP regime’s lack of maintenance of flood prevention infrastructure left in place by the APNU+AFC Coalition Government. The PPP’s neglect of such infrastructure has now imperiled the lives of thousands of Guyanese, have destroyed thousands of acres of crops, and have caused millions of dollars of damage to property and loss of household appliances and other items.”
“We call on the PPP regime to immediately establish a National Flood Relief Task Force comprising representatives of all sectors of the society and to take decisive action to: address the flooding and offer relief and compensation to persons affected.”
