Acres upon acres of crops were submerged in filthy water in Penal and Barrackpore yesterday as a result of overnight and persistent rains during the day.

Crop farmer Chabinath Ramnanan was almost brought to tears, as for the second time this year his fields in Penal were destroyed. Bodi, bhagi, tomatoes, eggplants and corn near harvesting were all gone.

“I don’t know how I am going to recover from this. Remember we suffered floods in June and I scraped up somehow to plant back. I don’t know how I am going to recover because this is my only source of income and I have a family to maintain,” Ramnanan said.

At 3 am, cattle farmer Dave Hercules waded through the rising swamp in Barrackpore to rescue his bulls and bison. With over 100 cattle, it was a Herculean task getting his animals to safety. His father Peter, on the other side of Wilson Road, lost his same, tomatoes, pumpkin, eggplant and hot pepper crops.

Several businesses in Barrackpore also had to close their doors as some parts of the Rochard Road and Rochard Douglas Road were impassable yesterday.

At Star Bay’s Chinese Restaurant and Bar, Jam Yang and his boys were busily securing sandbags at their door. But every time a truck passed they would have to scoop the water out quickly before it entered the restaurant.

Venturing outside was risky business, as the current of the overflowing Oropouche River almost toppled journalists in the field.

Penal Debe Regional Corporation chairman Dr Allen Sammy said the flood was as bad as those brought by Tropical Storm Bret last June. Up to late yesterday, the corporation was still trying to assess the damage.

However, he said since Bret no cleaning of waterways were done by the Ministry of Works and Transport or the Ministry of Agriculture.

“People are incensed because of what they are experiencing. We are extending a hand to the region, which we must do. There is a lot of emotional pain because you are extending North of Trinidad, but South of Port-of-Spain there has been no extension of help from the State,” Sammy said.

It was hard to tell the roads from the rivers and drains yesterday. But the frustration and despair etched on residents’ faces told a story of the hardship to come.

As deafening rainfall continued deep into yesterday, scores of families in South and Central Trinidad were praying for relief from the mud-coloured water that gushed into their homes.

Others, like Suresh Rattiram, his wife Vindra Mangroo and their seven children, ages two to 14, were praying the rage of the swollen Oropouche River would not topple their plywood home during the night.

With the children trapped in their Suchit Trace, Penal home, Rattiram agonised over the lost materials that were donated to upgrade the structure that rests precariously on shaved logs. The new zinc sheets, pieces of plywood and the washing machine were under water. The children’s school uniforms, which were hung under the house, were long gone with the river.

“Last night all the water came up and ply, galvanise and other things were gone. After storm Bret some people had helped us out with some materials. I don’t get regular work so it is hard,” Rattiram said.

Mangroo makes $200 a week selling doubles on Thursdays. For Rattiram and the children, it’s the only home they have ever known.

Mangroo said after going to the Oropouche East Constituency Office to get help for State housing, she was denied access to see MP Dr Roodal Moonilal. On another occasion, she was told they would not be able to afford State housing.

Minister of Works and Transport Rohan Sinanan says while he agrees there are irresponsible people who contribute to the flooding, he believes that the events experienced Wednesday into yesterday were caused because of the volume of rain that fell in the 60 hours.

“Let us be fair to everyone…the volume of rain that fell in the last 48 to 60 hours, I don’t’ think that the water channels, even though we cleared them, could have handled this volume of water,” Sinanan said.

“Yes there is some blame, like unplanned development in the past, but the phenomenal rainfall on a constant basis is what is contributing to the floods and landslips…the ground is water logged and hills water soaked,” he added.

Sinanan, who toured several flood-affected areas in Central and east Trinidad yesterday, said he was currently getting engineers to look at the downstream water flow rivers.

“There is unusual flooding in areas we have never seen before now, but it’s because of the active rainy season.”

Local Government Minister Kazim Hosein, who toured Madras, Las Lomas and the Chin Chin Road areas yesterday, meanwhile described the flooding as the “worst ever.”

“This is worst than what I saw in South Trinidad in the aftermath of Storm Bret,” Hosein said.

He said he stayed in constant contact with the disaster management units in the 14 regional corporations yesterday and added that crews and equipment were mobilising to go out to assess areas and help in clean-up operations.

“Corporations have instructions to go out there and to ensure to see that all rivers and water courses are cleared. River mouths are blocked up, causing the flooding in the low lying areas and people to be marooned in their homes,” Hosein said.

“I have seen many people suffer losses and it’s very heart-breaking to see their homes under four feet of waters.”

However, despite the devastation caused in several parts of the country, the Office of Disaster Preparedness and Management did not seem to be part of the relief drive yesterday. The organisation’s management did not send out any reports on the flooding and their operatives were not in the field alongside regional corporation bodies. (See editorial on Page A18)

According to the T&T Meteorological Service, the riverine flood alert for Trinidad, due to rainfall activity associated with the Inter-Tropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) over the last 36 hours, remains in effect. Reports from the Water Resources Agency also indicated that water levels in some of the nation’s major rivers as well as their tributaries, including the Caroni River, had reached threshold levels last evening. The flooding is expected to continue for the next 12 to 24 hours in areas already being affected.

Trinidad is sinking! All must be held responsible!

Those were some of the remarks made Wednesday night by motorists who were among thousands stranded along the Sir Solomon Hochoy Highway, Chase Village, due to severe flooding caused after a nearby river burst its banks.

The Caroni River also burst its banks yesterday afternoon, causing severe flooding in several areas including Las Lomas, Golden Grove Road, Chin Chin Road and Madras.

In Mamoral, villagers rescued a family, including a five-year-old girl, after their car was swept away by the raging flood waters. Villagers had to tie themselves with ropes to get to and rescue the family from the waters.

Residents in Caparo, who were also hit hard by disastrous flooding, are also now fearing a Cholera outbreak as the raging flood waters swept away scores of cesspit covers causing raw sewerage to spill into homes.

Wednesday was the first time in over 20 years that Chase Village had experienced such flooding. In some parts, there was said to be water four feet high.

The water also crossed both lanes of the highway, causing standstill traffic for more than five hours. Some people were forced to sleep in their cars while waiting for waters to subside. Not until 6.30 am were some people allowed to proceed to their respective homes from the “Triangle” at Chase Village.

Businessman Robert Soogrim, of the Fit for Life Pharmacy, said it was the first time he had ever experienced such flooding in the area.

“My pharmacy was flooded. I lost a lot of stocks, too much to ascertain a monetary cost of losses. A lot of things have to be thrown out. We expect the worst again because more rains are expected to come. I have been here 20 years, never saw that before.”

Sachindev Jagassar, from Chandernagore, said it was the first time in seven years he had seen so much flooding in his area.

“People’s homes were under so much water that many lost furniture and appliances. Before I left home today I made sure to put sand bags by my door just in case more flood come up. It was like an ocean.”

One of the residents in Madras, who wished not to be identified, told the T&T Guardian alleged a developer in the area had blocked one of the major water courses.

“People are irresponsible and blocking the water courses and developing land, building up structures all over and we the people have to suffer like this. Our homes are under five feet of water. Who will compensate us? Who will hold the responsibility of this?” the Madras resident said.

Couva/Tabaquite/Talparo Regional Corporation chairman Henry Awong said he received scores of reports from Caparo residents who feared a possible health scare because of the flooding.

“I was told that many cesspit covers were washed away by the floods causing sewer to be all over. This is a potential health hazard and I have several crews out there assessing,” Awong said.

“This is one of the worst I have ever experienced. Storm Bret has nothing to do with what happened here overnight. Several areas that never flooded in years flooded, including Freeport, Chase Village, Carapichaima.”

Awong pleaded with the Local Government Ministry to join the corporation’s efforts to bring much relief to those affected.

Rising flood waters in certain parts of Sangre Grande and environs on Divali evening forced residents to forgo their annual celebrations and change focus to rising flood waters.

As the muddy waters rose to dangerous levels on Divali, the residents stopped focusing on lighting deyas and began removing household items and their animals to higher ground.

The T&T Guardian was told yesterday that the North Oropouche River burst its banks around 6 pm on Wednesday and flooded Vega de Oropouche within an hour, leaving many houses under unusually high water.

Many families were still marooned in their homes up to yesterday.

Housewife Asha Ramdeen said all their efforts in cleaning in preparation for Divali quickly disappeared under the flood waters and they had to begin the cleaning process once again, except this time their task was removing slush and debris.

Many villagers said they expected the flooding due to the persistent rainfall on Tuesday night into yesterday, but didn’t think it would be so severe.

Some said despite the flooding they took their Divali celebrations indoors while some promising to light their deyas last night.

Vega de Oropouche and Fishing Pond farmers reported heavy crop losses and said damage could amount to thousands of dollars. Villagers said there is usually some rain for Divali but they could not recall flooding.

Sangre Grande Regional Corporation chairman Terry Rondon, councillor for the area Anil Juteram and corporation officials visited some of the affected families and promised to bring relief to those affected by flooding.

They will also visit the farmers when the flood water recedes to assist them and provide the necessary arrangement for compensation.

RALPH BANWARIE

Embattled Siparia West Secondary School principal Sookoo Sonnylal is threatening to sue the Ministry of Education over a decision to relieve him of duties while investigating a verbal altercation he is alleged to have had with a group of students earlier this month.

In a five page pre-action protocol letter sent to Education Minister Anthony Garcia yesterday, Soonylal’s attorneys, Anand Ramlogan, SC and Douglas Bayley, said the ministry acted outside its remit when it replaced him with a school supervisor after a video of the incident was circulated on social media.

“We are constrained to point out that neither the Minister nor the Chief Education Officer has any jurisdiction or power whatsoever in relation to the transfer, promotion and disciplining of teachers, including the principal. This power falls under the sole remit of the Teaching Service Commission (TSC),” the lawyers said.

They contend the ministry breached Sonnylal’s due process rights, as he was not given an opportunity to be heard on the issue before being instructed to report to the St Patrick District Education Office in San Fernando.

Soonylal’s lawyers threatened to file a judicial review lawsuit if their client is not reinstated by 4 pm today.

Speaking with the T&T Guardian on October 11, Garcia admitted that the TSC had the sole purview to discipline teachers and principals, but denied that the instructions given to Sonnylal constituted disciplinary action.

The T&T Guardian attempted to contact Garcia for a response yesterday evening, but he responded by text message to say he could not answer and would return the call. He did not do so up to late yesterday.

According to the letter, the incident occurred around 12.30 pm on October 4 while Sonnylal was on patrol during the school’s lunch break. His lawyers claimed the video only depicted a portion of the events, as it was recorded by students in a deliberate ploy to embarrass him.

“At the time, a student was secretly recording the incident. However, conveniently, the student omitted to record those portions when the students insulted our client. It is quite clear that these students premeditated this incident in order to ‘trap’ and implicate our client,” the lawyers said as they related their client’s version of the events.

Sonnylal’s lawyers claimed he was informed by other students that a group of students were smoking and gambling in a classroom. While on the way to the area, Soonylal confronted and spoke to one student, who was armed with a piece of metal in the stairwell. He then went to the classroom where he allegedly saw a student with his feet on a chair and he asked him to sit properly as it was a “learning institution.”

Describing Sonnylal as the real victim, his lawyers claimed he was then mobbed by a dozen of the student’s classmates, who began using obscene and threatening language towards him.

Saying Sonnylal, who has been at the school for the past 25 years, felt afraid and helpless, they said he attempted to call the Siparia Community Police four times but got no response.

“In light of the circumstances, namely the hostility shown by the students, the fact that our client was outnumbered and that the students were aggressive, our client reacted as most adult human beings would and uttered two phrases which are at most, debatably injudicious and unfortunate. The extenuating circumstances are clear and outweigh the human foible,” they said.

They also contend that the ministry’s response will undermine the efforts of other educators attempting to tackle school indiscipline and violence and embolden future perpetrators.

“By taking the side of violent indisciplined students who are not afraid to taunt, provoke and attack educators whose efforts are rewarded with an unexplained removal from office, the ministry will send the wrong signal,” they said.

Trade and Industry Minister Paula Gopee-Scoon says government may soon have to engage the Banking fraternity in discussions with a view to introducing unique financing options to assist entrepreneurs in setting up businesses.

Delivering the feature address at the launch of Global Entrepreneurship Week (GEW) 2017 at TSTT's Corporate Box, Queen's Park Oval, Port-of-Spain yesterday, the minister admitted that access to capital was the biggest deterrent to persons interested in establishing a business.

She said global indicators had ranked T&T on the lower end of this scale.

Gopee-Scoon said, "The gap is wider for the newer and different entrepreneurs and small and medium sized businesses."

She added, "Only 11 per cent of startup funding has been accessed through formal financial institutions."

Commending Republic Bank's Marketing Manager, Damian Cooper for the pioneering move to meet with entrepreneurs to hear what they need from financial institutions in order to achieve their goals, Gopee-Scoon said, "The entrepreneurial spirit in the non-energy sector is pivotal to our nation’s economic development."

She said small and medium sized businesses played a crucial role in the domestic economy as data from the Ministry of Labour and Small Enterprise Development indicated this sector was comprised of over 20,000 companies, representing more than 85 per cent of all registered businesses and contributing approximately 28 per cent of the country's Gross Domestic Product.

Gopee-Scoon reinforced the Finance Minister's sentiments that government was focused on diversifying the economy, promoting import substitution and growing exports.

She went on, "There are opportunities for both seasoned and emerging entrepreneurs as the current environment challenges us all to think away from the usual and also mandates the application of both innovation and creativity."

The minister said this was contained in Vision 2030 as they sought to transform the country into a society where young people are confident enough in their own ideas to seek out and create opportunities.

She said government was also investing in new economic infrastructure for innovators as persons requiring infrastructure could obtain land lots complete with all utilities at the Tamana InTech Park in Wallerfield which caters for businesses in ICT, Business Process Outsourcing, Data Processing Centres, Animation and Software Development, High Value Manufacturing and Financial Services.

In addition, she said an Agro-Processing and Light Industrial Park in Moruga was scheduled to come on stream in 2019 with land and factory buildings.

A similar project is also planned for Phoenix Park and will commence in 2018 as government and key partners continue with efforts to create a favourable environment for entrepreneurs and enterprises.

Casino workers were literally brought to tears yesterday upon learning that discussions between the T&T Members Club Association (TTMCA) and the Finance Ministry were futile.

Veronica Forde, executive members representing the Casino Workers Union said many workers were unsure of where their next meal would come from or where they would get money to pay their rent.

The union was not part of the meeting but were present after it ended following talks with Minister in the Ministry of Finance Allyson West. The meeting lasted for about an hour and a half.

Forde said the union did not attend the meeting because representatives received late correspondence.

The association’s president Sherry Persad who described yesterday’s outcome as “disheartening” added, “The minister could not give us any hope or any guarantee of anything.

“I felt like we were just going through motions and just being heard. We were looking at blank faces, no expression and the union is now asking me what is going to become of their jobs.”

Persad said during the meeting the association reiterated the detriment facing the gaming industry following the announcement of the 100 percent increase in taxes.

“She (West) said she took note of our concerns however, she could not give us any guarantee regarding moving forward. We have clubs that were closed down.

“The minister indicated that this is only ten percent of taxes to be collected. The rest is uncollected so because of the lack of enforcement this industry is going to taxed by 100 percent which we think is very vindictive,” Persad said.

She said the association offered to put forward initiatives to the ministry to improve collection, including proper legislation which Persad said the association has been lobbying for the past 12 years.

“We were hoping there would be legislation in place before any increase in taxes,” Persad added.

She said the association believed they were being deliberately targeted.

Calling for an immediate meeting with Finance Minister Colm Imbert Persad said, “All the staff is here and they are asking us what is going to become of their jobs and what could we tell them?

“We can’t tell them anything positive,” Persad said, adding that the gambling industry was a service industry which was heavily dependent on disposable income.

“People are losing jobs all over and how could you not make time and hear us,” Persad said.

An emotional Forde said many workers had already lost their jobs, saying she has been receiving numerous calls of concern from crying employees.

“People are concerned how they are going to mind their children. This is not right and we want to know where do we go from here.

“We had hoped that something would have come out from this where we could have a peaceful night sleep...right now we are not sleeping because we don’t know what will happen to us tomorrow.

“Where I work there are about ten pregnant women and they are asking me what is going to happen to next. How do we deal with this? Aren’t we people to? Don’t we deserve the same rights as everybody else?,” Forde asked.

Minister’s figures inaccurate-attorney

The association’s attorney Christlyn Moore who also spoke said figures presented by Imbert were inaccurate said, “The minister is prepared to collect the 90 percent tax outstanding from the ten percent that is compliant.

‘That cannot be accurate Government policy. The thing to do is improve compliance.”

She said West said there was a plan to improve compliance when in fact there was no plan to do so.

“It seems the plan the ministry has designed to increase compliance is to increase tax on compliant members,” Moore said.

Government is exploring with its Caribbean Catastrophe insurance provider whether it can access money to help with damage caused by this week’s extraordinary heavy rainfall, Finance Minister Colm Imbert said yesterday.

During yesterday’s Parliamentary Standing Finance Committee’s examination of the 2018 Budget, Imbert responded to a query by UNC MP Suruj Rambachan on whether insurance money could be used to assist flood victims. He said the Minstry has a $15 million allocation to the insurance policy which caters to regional disasters such as hurricanes and earthquakes He said Government would look to see if the insurance could be applied for the current period of heavy rainfall.

Imbert said Government intends passing regulations for casinos by year end and appealed for Opposition support.

“You see what’s going on out there in the unregulated sector. The legislation has been in Joint Select Committee status for over a year. We tried to meet people and they weren’t available. I urge the Opposition, let’s work together. It’s pending a year—that’s enough. I’m pleading with the Opposition.”

He also said the T&T Revenue Authority must be established in 2018, “or we’ll have revenue collection problems.”

The Finance Minister said $15 million was allocated for property tax systems and more than 100 property valuation officers were recruited and more will be next year or the first assessment step. He said the tax will be based on the 2009 law with some legislative tweaking in Parliament .

He said Government and Parliament isn’t holding up procurement legislation and reiterated that applications for appointment of a procurement regulator are with the Office of the President for a decision. He said Government wants the procurement system operationalised next year.

Imbert repeated that the President is evaluating applications and a decision will come in “due course.” Ministries are already on alert to have procurement units, he added.

He said Finance will be auditing the 100-odd state enterprises for the first time to ensure efficiency and savings.

In addition, there are public-private partnership plans for the Vehicle Maintenance Company, Trinidad Generation Unlimited’s divestment and for the International Financial Centre (IFC) to explore opportunities for T&T to be used as an outsourcing location.

Imbert and Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley said Government couldn’t compel the independent Public Services Commission to fill posts. Rowley said a meeting held with PSC bore some “fruit but the tree was still the problem.”

The minister also explained that ex-diplomats and MPs experienced delays to get pensions and gratuities due to lengthy public service record processing He said every location a person served had to be checked and delays caused by closure of offices due to PSA protests had increased backlogs.

The Union of Members Clubs and Lottery Workers (UMCLW) has categorically rejected an assertion by the Ministry of Finance that the union refused to attend a meeting which took place yesterday.

A press release from the union said it was invited via email at 3.37 pm on Thursday for a meeting at 1.30pm yesterday but at that time the offices were already closed.

“The union, however, did check email at 9 pm. However, due short notice of the meeting and to the inclement weather the key office holders of the union were unable to attend the meeting at the Ministry of Finance.

“The union did respond indicating that it was grateful for the meeting and was willing to meet with the minister next week at the earliest possible time,” the release said.

It said union office holders did not want to meet with a Minister in the Ministry of Finance adding, “ It is the union’s opinion that it is the substantial Minister of Finance Colm Imbert who makes the decision and we do not have any confidence that Minister Allyson West can influence meaningful change of the taxation measures in the budget and how it will lead to massive job losses.”

And following the protest outside the home of Finance Minister Colm Imbert on Wednesday officials of the ministry contacted officials of the Union of Members Clubs and Lottery Workers, representatives of casino workers, and invited them to a meeting scheduled for yesterday.

But the union said it rejected allegations that its members protested outside the minister’s home, saying the protest was carried out by casino workers who are constituents of Imbert and who had tried to meet with him at his constituency office but were instead met with a with closed door.

If Agriculture, Land and Fisheries Minister Clarence Rambharat has his way, the $118 million allocated in the 2018 budget to pay staff and Cost of Living Allowance (COLA) would have been spent on highly trained, qualified and motivated workers to get the job done.

This was Rambharat’s response when asked on Thursday by Tabaquite MP Suruj Rambachan at a Finance Standing Committee if his ministry was getting value for money with this exorbitant wage bill.

“I would answer it in this way, given a completely free hand to re-organise how we spend that wage bill…how we utilise…I would not be doing it in this way. We ought to be spending it behind high, quality technical people, paid well, and highly motivated to do the job.”

It’s a flexibility Rambaharat said the ministry does not have.

“So it takes a lot longer to get certain changes done in the ministry.”

In his opening remarks in Parliament, Rambharat admitted that the ministry was impeded to a great degree as there were 404 vacancies which needed to be filled.

This figure comprises 20 per cent of vacancies that currently exist.

The ministry was allocated $771 million in the 2018 budget.

Rambachan asked Rambharat what goals he had set for the agriculture sector to increase food production and to justify the $118 million that will be paid in salaries and COLA to the ministry’s workers in the next fiscal year.

“So the target we have set is to effect the behavioural change in this country by putting production and produce closer to consumers …making it available and promoting the idea of supporting local production through changes in consumption patterns,” Rambharat said.

One way food production can increase was by improving the productivity of workers, Rambharat said.

“We have limitations in what we can do as ministers. The Permanent Secretary and directors at the ministry have a responsibility to ensure that people show up for work and they are productive.”

He said what was needed was getting the right skills and people to support the production of farmers, which would not happen overnight.

Rambharat said the ministry had commissioned a review of the ministry of which a final report was delivered in August with implementation taking place this fiscal year.

The report recommended in some areas of the ministry private/ public partnership.

He said the ministry has physical assets in Mora Valley, Aripo and Mongelo “placed in the hands completely or partially of the private sector that would reduce the burden on the ministry, but also provide the boost in food production that we need when it comes to livestock.”

Suspended People’s National Movement (PNM) member Harry Ragoonanan is fearful that his wife Magistrate Lucina Cardenas-Ragoonanan may not be appointed as an Industrial Court judge because of his fight against corruption.

This was Ragoonanan’s view, stating that he was now fearful for his life and may soon leave the country on a short trip.

Asked if his life had been threatened, Ragoonanan refused to comment.

“I am not going to say anything about that,” Ragoonanan said.

The PNM suspended Ragoonanan, a long-standing member of the party, last week Saturday for allegedly attempting to manipulate a tendering process at the Public Transport Service Corporation last year.

The PNM said the matter was being investigated by the police, a claim which Ragoonanan, a party financier, has since denied.

Since his suspension, Ragoonanan said no one from the party has contacted him.

“They would not speak to me. They have been saying I trying to mash up the party. There is no such thing. I am just against corruption and I have pointed out corruption. The whole population knows I have seen the corruption in the ferry acquisition, but it continues.”

He said lies were being perpetuated to the people of T&T.

Ragoonanan said his wife, who presides in Tobago as a magistrate, has become “traumatised” by the incident, but remains strong and focused.

“She knows she would be a casualty in this.”

He said his wife was invited to apply for the position of an Industrial Court Judge, which she did.

“She is fully qualified for the post. We expected an appointment and now we don’t think that opportunity will come. But we will wait and see what happens. My own view is that this will not be. I would be surprised if she is.”

Ragoonanan said he feels his wife would be “victimised” for his outspokenness and fight against corruption.

Stating that his wife has been a dedicated, hard-working and committed individual to the Bench “every lawyer in the country would tell you she is the best magistrate the country has ever seen. Not because she is my wife, but they all say that.”

At all hours of the night, Ragoonanan said his wife would “try to finish cases for people. She deals with everything in a humane manner. And the prisoners would tell you when she sends them to jail they are happy because she explains why she sending them to jail.”

Ragoonanan said his better half has numerous letters from prisoners who wrote her from within the prison walls thanking her.

“Wherever she has gone she has cleared up all the backlog. Tobago is now saying that she is the best magistrate that ever came there.”

Chief disaster coordinator of the Office of Disaster Preparedness and Management (ODPM) Rishi Siew said hundreds of people have been evacuated from their homes in south and

central Trinidad over the past few days.

Siew said in Woodland, which is one of the most adversely hit areas and which is still under five feet of water in some areas, some 260 people have been rescued so far and taken to shelters

where they will remain until the floods subside.

Siew was among a high-power team of officials, including National Security Minister Edmund Dillon, Local Government and Rural Minister Kazim Hosein, Moruga MP and Minister Dr Lovell Francis who toured flood-stricken communities in south Trinidad yesterday.

Speaking from Barrackpore, Siew said, “Thousands of people are affected. Flood waters have not subsided just yet in some areas and the rains are back. People are still trapped in six, five, four feet of water.

We just came through Woodland where was five feet of water in people homes.”

He said about 60 people at Kanhai Road, Barrackpore and surrounding areas have also been evacuated.

“Farmalls and tractors, boats, canoes are all being used to rescue people from their homes and bring them to safety. Peoples have been evacuated from Madras Road, St Helena, Kelly Village, Las Lomas. Rescues took place there as well. There were also situations at the Chaguanas areas as well, Caparo, Flanagin, Mamoral.”

He said the ODPM was working with other agencies to bring as much relief to affected residents as possible.

Dillon assured that the army, Fire Services and other agencies were in flood-stricken areas rendering aid.

He will hosting a press conference at his ministry today to address the flood situation.

Francis said the water has receded in Moruga and clean-up operations has commenced. He said they were able to get food and drinking water to some families in Barrackpore who have been stranded for two days.

Hosein said he has been meeting with heads of regional corporations and councillors and together with the disaster management units have been distributing hampers, mattresses and water.

Responding to complaints that help was too slow, he said, “The water keeps coming back. Once the water subsides things will move a little faster.” However, he said boats, tractors and high vehicles were being used to reach those affected.

Policies determining where people can build and the types structures will have to be re-examined in the wake of the recent flooding in Central, South and East Trinidad over the last few days, acting Director of the Town and Country Planning Division Clyde Watche said yesterday.

Speaking at a Planning Ministry press conference, Watche said despite the fact that there was a national spatial development policy, some citizens ignored this and continued construction that did not meet the agency’s standards. He said building practices have changed in areas prone to flooding, adding that homes are now built off the ground and were better able to withstand floods.

Asked whether too many people were simply breaking the law and building without regard for their environment and issues such as drainage, Watche said the agency received many applications for approval which must also be filtered by agencies such the Environmental Management Authority (EMA).

Assistant Director Kerry Pariag, who also spoke, said the division was engaged in ongoing data collection to implement new policies as some were outdated. However, he said following the severity of the flooding there may be a new high water mark adding that the agency would have to map this and be guided accordingly regarding the granting of approvals and for what type of development.

Pariag also said incoming data could mean a return to zoning policies and possible retraction of some land use policies regarding permission for residential building.

“We may have to limit, bar, restrict or outright prohibit urban development in certain spaces,” he said.

Pariag said while the agency has regulations in place to control development, particularly on hillsides to curb the denudation of vegetation that contributes heavily to flooding, the legal process was time consuming.

Urging for the need for the relevant Government agencies to work in tandem, Pariag said new legislation to assist more sensible development was partially proclaimed through the Planning and Facilitation Development Act.

Although 11 out of 14 regional corporations were adversely affected by severe flooding in the last three days, deputy CEO of the Office of Disaster Preparedness and Management Dave Williams does not see this as a “big thing” and has put their poor response down to a breakdown in communication between the emergency agencies.

Williams also took responsibility for the lack of coordination among response agencies, which led to a delay in reaching flood-affected communities and motorists who remained trapped for over five hours in rising waters on the north and south-bound lanes of the Solomon Hochoy Highway after heavy showers.

On Thursday and up to yesterday, several areas in Trinidad remained under water as the rains showed no signs of letting up.

At a press conference yesterday, Williams admitted the ODPM’s response agencies had failed to reach out to people affected by the floods.

He said the ODPM, which is responsible for coordination of national resources before, during and after the impact of a catastrophic event, met yesterday with agencies of the national disaster response mechanism—Fire Service, Defence Force, Police Service, T&T Red Cross Society and Ministries of Local Rural Development and Local Government and Works and Transport - to examine how they can improve on communication with the public.

“What we experienced was that the communications did not happen the way we would have liked. And therefore the response agencies were becoming aware of the problems that members of the public were experiencing with flood waters after the waters had built up ... after people were caught in traffic on the highways.”

He said agencies “could not talk to each other at the time it should have, leading to people suffering from the absence of information.”

Asked if this was acceptable, Williams said sometimes the most perfect channel of communication breaks down.

“Is it unacceptable? I would say it is unfortunate that when you tried to call somebody (agencies) you can’t get through,” he said.

Williams said while the OPDM has agreed new protocols need to be followed to respond swifter to those affected, they were faced with a challenge of imparting information to the public at nights.

Asked if the ODPM’s basic functions had failed, Williams said, “I don’t see it that way. It didn’t fail. My communications was not fast as it should have been. The agencies weren’t out there early enough.”

He also did not agree that they functioned badly.

Also asked if its command centre in Mausica to deal with emergencies had been in use, he said, “You see this as a big thing. For us this is a small thing.”

But the media tore into Williams, telling him the OPDM had failed in their “small thing,”asking what if something more catastrophic and “bigger” had occurred.

Williams calmly responded by asking the media to define failure.

Also asked about the condemnation of their slow response, Williams said some of it was true and untrue. He said once the OPDM was notified of an area facing a deluge they would verify the information through people who support the OPDM’s system.

“Every corporation had flooding. However, of the 14 (corporations) we can say 11 had significant flooding.”

Williams said the public should not behave as if flooding is a strange phenomenon.

“Folks, we do flood. All the push back thus far is on the State,” he said, which was reasonable.

Asked who should be held accountable for the lack of communication, Williams blamed the disaster management system but said citizens have to pay closer attention to the weather reports.

“Preparedness requires everyone to take measures to be ready for these circumstances.”

Efforts to contact, National Security Minister Edmund Dillon, under whose purview the ODPM falls, yesterday were unsuccessful.

Trucks from Sangre Grande Regional Corporation were used to transport food, water and mattresses to marooned villagers at Le Mong Fishing Pond and Vega de Oropouche yesterday.

Sangre Grande Regional Corporation chairman Terry Rondon told T&T Guardian all agencies and employees of corporation and CEPEP workers were ready to go into the communities with backhoes and trucks yesterday, but the clean-up work was put on hold because the communities were still under water due to continuing rainfall. He said the rising waters also made it impossible to use any other vehicles besides trucks to transport relief items.

“We stand ready to assist the people of the flooded areas but await for the flood water to recede before any clean up work can begin,” Rondon said.

Rondon again accused unscrupulous land developers of being responsible for most of the flooding. He said it’s time to stop the talk and for action to take place, adding he wanted to know who is giving permission to these land developers and if the authorities make any follow-up visit to ensure they are complying with the building codes.

“This lawlessness of squatters and land developers must come to an end now,” he said.

He added, however, that most assessment of the damages had been done and this will be sent to the relevant authorities for processing.

Juteram said he felt sorry for those who spent days and weeks cleaning up in preparation for Divali only to be flooded out.

Today if the weather is fine, health officials will be visiting and clean-up work will begin from as early as 7 am.

RALPH BANWARIE

For the Ramjit family, flooding is a yearly occurrence, an unwanted Christmas of sorts.

Luckily for them, however, they usually get at least an hour head start before flood waters invade their Madras Road, St Helena home.

Speaking with the T&T Guardian yesterday, Setty and Rodney Ramjit said they are usually warned by Rodney’s sister who lives in El Carmen.

Speaking to the T&T Guardian yesterday, Setty said the drainage near their home is poor. She added that the nearby river needs to be dredged properly and regularly.

The couple recalled being stranded in their home on Thursday, anticipating breaking fast after celebrating Divali the day before. When the T&T Guardian visited yesterday the water had already subsided and Rodney said the flood, which was not the worst the family had seen over the years, only claimed the lives of three of their ducks.

At Madras Road, Chaguanas, one woman, trapped in her home as flood waters reached at least three feet high, placed a sign on her window that read “Government Sucks.” The woman, who did not want to be named, said the constant flooding was annoying, adding that Thursday’s flooding was the worse she had ever seen. She said she had her ailing mother in the house and questioned why flooding had to be a yearly occurrence. She answered herself by saying no one cares when the residents suffer yearly.

Benedict Doon said he moved into the area two months ago from Freeport and is now wondering how he will prevent future occurrences. As he spoke, other residents came forward and gave their experiences of yearly flooding, prompting Doon to suggest he may have to put his flat home on stilts.

Other residents like Leela Jattansing, Diawonti Reesal and Kenrick Boodhan all had the same concern, noting talks of compensation for lost appliances in the past never materialized.

Further east at Santa Monica Trace, St Helena, Winston Lutchman said the problem of flooding can be addressed if two flood gates are repaired. He said thanks to the debris and litter often dumped in the waterways, the flood gates don’t close properly and the water makes rivers out of roadways and turns vacant lands into ponds.

An entire village along the Blanchisseuse Road in Arima was last night left in total darkness after a major landslide brought down power lines in the area.

This was last night confirmed by Arima Mayor Lisa Morris-Julien, who said she returned to her office shortly after 8 pm after responding to the landslide.

“It occurred at the Five-Mile Mark by the WASA Station, leaving that entire area from Four Mile back without electricity. We have already contacted T&TEC and they are on standby to commence restoration works,” Morris-Julien said.

A crew from the Arima Borough Corporation is expected to go to the site today to clear the roadway of all debris. 

Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley has admitted the Office of Disaster Preparedness and Management (ODPM) and other State agencies must improve their disaster relief response times.

His comment came in response to questions about complaints over the Office of Disaster Preparedness and Management failure to spring into any real action until yesterday and the poor response of the emergency agencies to calls for help during the flooding which had devastated parts of Trinidad over the past few days.

“There is work to be done in terms of improving the rapidity with which the ODPM and civil agencies tend to respond when something happens. We are not entirely happy that we have this down in a smooth way,” Rowley said at his St Clair office.

“There are 14 local government bodies in T&T and all of them may at the same time be making a demand, or lines of communication may be blurred or ineffective. That is an area we need to improve on.”

Saying the flooding was concentrated in areas that were also affected by Tropical Storm Bret in July, Rowley said the ODPM and regional corporations needed to learn from previous mistakes.

“Every time we go through this exercise we ought to have lessons learned and try and improve so that the next time we are in a position to respond better. I am afraid that we have not seen that just yet, but that is something we have to review and strengthen our ability to respond,” Rowley said.

He also confessed that he understood why some citizens questioned the country’s ability to respond to major disasters like hurricanes and earthquakes based on previous experiences with less severe natural disasters.

“That is a question we have to ask ourselves and the Government needs to ask that question and go through some table top exercises to ensure we identify where there are weakness in organisations, personnel and resources, so that in the event that something worse happens we don’t find ourselves completely at sea,” Rowley said.

He noted that regional corporations had already assessed damage within their regions and that the Defence Force was deployed to the worst affected communities yesterday afternoon to assist those who were marooned by the floods.

Asked what long term engineering measures Government was considering for flooding, Rowley said it was almost inevitable during periods of unusually high rainfall such as over the past three days.

“Even as we do these engineering works, whether it is clearing, which we do; building up levees, which we may have to do more of; once you have a situation where you are in valley or catchment area and you have a downpour that provides more water than the channel can carry, the water must go somewhere, especially when you have tide problems which may prevent the river from draining quickly,” he said.

Asked about his failure to visit affected communities, Rowley said he had Budget commitments but noted Government was well represented in the field by the Ministers of Local Government, Works and Transport and National Security, who are all responsible for aspects disaster relief.

“I am glad they would like to see me, but we all have different responsibilities. There is a Government structure, parliament is in session for the National Budget... If it was feasible for me to go I would have, but it was not,” he said.

The T&T Registered Nurses Association (TTRNA) is blaming unfilled vacancies and the presence of only one registered nurse on any ward as the main reasons for the high death rate within the institution under the North Central Regional Health Authority’s purview.

As a result, the TTRNA is calling on the NCRHA to immediately fill “the over 200 hundred registered nurses/midwife/nursing assistants vacancies within the institution.”

In a strong worded memo to all nurses on October 17, the TTRNA called on nurses to desist from opening new wards/clinics until the appropriate safe staffing levels are reached. The memo was signed by TTRNA president Ida Stuart.

“With the recently reported hospital deaths coming to the attention of the TTRNA, most of which appear to be related to shortage of staff within EWMSC, TTRNA can no longer tolerate the unsafe practice of having one registered nurse manage a ward with 20 or more patients,” Stuart said in the memo.

One nurse, who wished to remain unidentified for fear of victimisation, said she lost a patient as a result of being the only one on the ward.

“I remember one day I was the only one there and two patients crashed at the same time. I had to resuscitate one of them but the other, I was forced to watch the patient die on me because I could not attend to both at the same time. I felt like I couldn’t live with myself after, but that’s the reality of the situation when we are forced to work alone on wards that have a lot of patients,” the nurse alleged.

It is alleged registered nurses are being forced to work alone on a ward without any help and if they refuse their superiors are victimising them.

As a result of this, the TTRNA advised all nurses working within the NCRHA, in particular the Eric Williams Medical Sciences Complex (EWMSC) and Mt Hope Women’s Hospital, to indicate they cannot function under such conditions if they realise they are alone on a ward.

“Request administration to provide an additional registered nurse to work with you on that shift, as you can be held accountable to the patients and the regulatory body for exceeding your scope of practice,” Stuart advised her colleagues.

Stuart warned that the TTRNA is also mandated to be the advocate of patients and as such will utilise all legal options at its disposal to fulfill its obligation.

The TTRNA also asked the NCRHA to convert all contract positions to permanent employment of all nursing personnel to provide security of tenure.

But in a release yesterday, NCRHA acting chief executive officer Davlin Thomas said over the past six months they had taken the strategic decision to improve the patient, staff and visitor experience at their facilities.

“This includes the authority’s decision to eradicate situations where a sole registered nurse is assigned to a ward. We have already implemented new measures to ensure that our nurses and enrolled nursing assistants are given the additional manpower, tools and resources they need to deliver quality healthcare to our citizens,” Thomas said.

He said the authority had already adopted several innovative approaches that are successfully addressing the shortage of nurses.

“More than 45 nurses have already been accepted to the pool, and more are being added daily to supplement the efforts of our nurses who are already permanently employed within the NCRHA,” Thomas said.

Thomas also said they had introduced of a monthly roster system that incorporates the additional people in the nursing pool to ensure a minimum of three nurses are assigned to each ward on every shift.