Rowley: I was monitoring floods

Although Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley might not have toured flood-affected areas to meet people and see for himself their suffering, he yesterday said that he has been continuously monitoring the situation.

Opposition Leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar, however, was out and about touring flood-hit areas in Penal and environs.

“I can tell you and those affected, I have been in continuous contact with the ministers. I have been getting a running commentary on what has been happening and what decisions have to be made, were made,” Rowley said. At a press conference yesterday, he said Government through responder agencies are out providing relief and assistance where available.

In the same way assistance was provided to those affected by Tropical Storm Bret, he said, those who would need the relief will be assessed and assistance granted as required.

Asked why he was not in the field as people would have liked to see the prime minister leading from in front, Rowley said he was glad people would like to see him, but, it was not “feasible” for him to be out there yesterday. Instead, Minister of Local Government Kazim Hosein, Minister of Works and Transport Rohan Sinanan and Minister of National Security Edmund Dillon, were in the field.

He said there is a government structure in place that requires he be present in Parliament dealing with the 2018 budget.

Opposition Leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar, in her tall boots, was out and about in several flood-hit areas yesterday meeting with victims. On the Office of Disaster Preparedness and Management’s early lack of communication among first responders to warn about the bad weather and the flooding, Rowley said, “There is work to be done in improving the rapidity with which the ODPM and similar agencies can respond if something happens.”

While Government was not entirely happy that things were not done smoothly, he said, “Every time we go through these exercises, we ought to have lessons learned and try and improve so that next time we are in a better position to respond better.

I am afraid that we are not seeing that just yet and that is something we have to review and strengthen our ability to respond.”