Flood victims at PM’s Divali function

THE Prime Minister recounted his personal experiences of hurricanes, volcanoes and earthquakes to seemingly demonstrate that he strongly empathises with the victims of recent flooding in areas of central and east Trinidad. He was last night addressing a Divali celebration at the Diplomatic Centre, St Ann’s.

The PM’s guests included flood victims, even as he acknowledged, “We meet in this way at a very difficult time.”

His remarks came amid a blame-game over which government had decided to build at the site of flood-prone Greenvale Park in La Horquetta, while the Government said unusually heavy rainfall could not have been quickly drained away, and politicians accused each other of trying to gain political publicity in their handouts of relief supplies to flood victims.

Dr Rowley hailed the night’s Divali performers for their wonderful displays, even under the country’s difficult circumstances.

“We have just experienced what I’m told is the worst flooding in TT. It was very, very difficult for many families and the country as a whole.”

Saying some people came close to losing their lives, he reflected on this latest natural disaster to say, “We once again as a people walked away without loss of life.”

Alluding to the huge empathy nationwide for flood-victims, Rowley said in his view every citizen had experienced that recent flooding even if they were not actually there.

He recalled his experience of a hurricane in Tobago as a high school pupil. At 1.45 pm on a bright, sunny day, he said, the boys were sent home due to a hurricane alert. “Within half an hour the hurricane was upon us.”

He said while they clambered home, out of nowhere miraculously appeared a Volkswagen car into which 13 boys eagerly jumped. He recalled that after the hurricane, only two houses in his neighbourhood had survived. “There was no food and was no dry clothing.”

Rowley said they picked up their lives, lived in tents and awaited drinking water from Trinidad, as Tobago had none. “I still think we are a resilient people.”

Rowley recalled two years after studying volcanology and graduating, the volcano he had studied erupted and the people of that rural part of St Vincent lost everything.

Likewise, he said in Montserrat the population fell from 13,000 to 3,000 after 10,000 people had to leave when the main town was devastated by volcanic eruptions which began in 1995.

Rowley said in times of disaster, we must be our brother’s keeper. While citizens may worship differently, TT is a model nation for the world to watch. “If that is so, there’s no place for division, discrimination, heartlessness.”

He was glad that after recent flooding, from school child to business, the nation had risen to help flood victims. The PM said people must differentiate between the words assistance, demand and reason. “Today I want to welcome on this location the families of the areas affected by the flood.” He said these are Kelly, St Helena, Greenvale and Las Lomas. “The darkness of those moments of despair can easily be dispensed with by the light of Divali.”