MP not pleased with Works Ministry’s flood preparation

CAROL MATROO

TOCO/SANGRE GRANDE MP and member of the Joint Select Committee on Land and Physical Infrastructure, Glenda Jennings-Smith, was not happy yesterday with the responses she got from members of the Works and Transport ministry as to how they were progressing with cleaning and clearing waterways in preparation of the rainy season.

Addressing permanent secretary in the ministry Sonia Francis-Yearwood during the 26th meeting of the JSC at the J Hamilton Maurice meeting room, the Waterfront, Wrightson Road, Port of Spain, Jennings-Smith demanded a response as to how many communities the ministry had visited and the accrued information they had gathered.

The MP said Works and Transport Minister Rohan Sinanan had announced a programme in October last year to treat with flooding and, in so doing, declared the Adopt-a-River programme where waterways would be cleared and cleaned to alleviate flooding.

“We are now before another season for flooding. I believe that would have been put as high priority. You need to tell this committee how many communities have been targeted which, you said, are in the early stages,” Jennings-Smith said.

Francis-Yearwood had said there was a programme of over 200 water courses that they proposed to work on.

Jennings-Smith was not happy with the response.

“I don’t think you are getting the question. Which communities have you targeted so far? What work has been done so far? Have you targeted or visited three, two communities and which ones?”

Francis-Yearwood said all communities throughout Trinidad had been targeted for attention, and they had prioritised a number of projects which have been approved by Cabinet and were awaiting confirmation of funds.

But Jennings-Smith was having none of that.

“I need you to give us some more specifics. We know that funding is an issue and we know that meeting the communities does not carry a lot of funding for a programme. If you can’t tell us this morning, the committee would like you to submit to us a list of communities that you have targeted so far. If you have actively been pursuing this at this point in time, surely you have targeted and visited two communities or maybe one. This is something the minister adopted with the Adopt A River programme and we are now in the month of March – almost five months

“Tell us what have you physically done. I asked a simple question. Where is the programme at this time? What have you you done? We need to know where we are at now at this point in time so this committee could determine what is going on with this project at this point in time.”

JSC chairman Stephen Creese noted the inquiry and asked for a response, which Francis-Yearwood was hard pressed to deliver.

“At no point in time I want to lead this committee down a path I am not aware of, so that is why I am asking you kindly to let us submit it in writing. If I were to give you an answer now I would be giving you an answer off the the top of my head, and you would not get the correct response and I don’t want that to happen,” she said.

“I got my answer,” Jennings-Smith said.