Committee: Accurate data required to address flooding

GOVERNMENT senator Nigel De Freitas is questioning where the data on flooding acquired by the Ministry of Planning and the Town and Country Planning Division (TCPD). He says information is being duplicated.

He was speaking on Wednesday during a sitting of a joint select committee of Parliament which is looking into flood alleviation and control measures for major river basins and drainage catchments. De Freitas said enforcement against illegal structures was not being done, and he was concerned that the agencies involved in dealing with flooding were not co-ordinated. The meeting was chaired by Independent senator Dr Deoroop Teemal.

Director of the TCPD, Marie Hinds, said while illegal structures may contribute to flooding in some areas, owners had a responsibility for someone who was illegally constructing.

"If they had applied to Town and Country, they would not have gotten an approval to build in an inappropriate space. It is fair to assume it is also state land, so then it becomes the responsibility of Commissioner of State Lands with the local government agencies to stop or remove that structure.

"The legislation under which the Town and Country operates does not always empower us to enforce. There is a practice that state does not enforce against state. It would then be inappropriate for us to then bring Commissioner of State Lands for an enforcement matter. So we write and state what we have observed, and it is hoped with a team approach we can go forward."

She said it required a comprehensive, co-ordinated approach to address this matter, but it did not fall under the TCPD to rule on enforcement on those particular matters.

Asked what could be done to prevent flooding, Hinds said there must be accurate data after De Freitas stated that flooding was caused mainly by illegal structures.

"You stated an assumption that flooding was caused by illegal structures in flood-prone areas. The division has started to map and work to see the extent to which matters come before the division as complaints to see if there is any co-relation. Right now we have a challenge in terms of our database enforcement."

However, De Freitas was doubtful about the process saying while the Works Ministry was doing a geographic information system map of water courses, the Planning Ministry was doing its own work and and now the TCPD. "That tells me something is gravely wrong.

"Everybody is seeking the same information. Dumping is a major problem. I am hearing that enforcement is invested in various agencies and it is not getting done. You just indicated you don't have the data, can't say how many people are building and what impact it has. What I am trying to say is climate change is happening, flooding is getting worse and we are still trying to figure out the data.

“At the end of the day, the people whose houses are flooding don't want to hear that. They want to hear that there is a solution in the works and the mapping is just one part of it."

Hinds said if someone wanted to build on a river bank, unless they had a strong argument, the TCPD would refuse. However, if the division did not have the power to act on the motion, then they would have to bring in the Commissioner of State Lands or the Local Government ministry.

"We are trying to share our data with all our entities and ensure when we do give recommendations to construct, there is inter-agency collaboration."

Dr Vincent Cooper, expert in water management at the University of the West Indies, St Augustine, said flood resilience involved flood prevention, flood defence, flood mitigation, flood preparation and flood recovery. This, he said, required an adequate government structure to be properly implemented.

Deputy permanent secretary at the Local Government ministry Jameel Chadee Ameeral said flooding in TT frequently led to substantial loss of property, crop damage, health problems and severe inconvenience to communities.

He said the ministry has a statutory responsibility in accordance with the Municipal Corporations Act of 1990 which does not include major river basins, main water courses and drains along main roads and high ways.

In fiscal 2020, the ministry was allocated 1.53 per cent of the overall national allocation under the public sector investment programme for drainage works. In 2019 the ministry was allocated $75 million of which 82.7 per cent was accessed. Corporations were able to construct over 20,000 metres of box drains.