Flooding not an act of God

THE EDITOR: There is no doubt in my mind that the Old Testament most worshipped by Trinis of all religions is the tale of Noah and the flood. Why else would we support, encourage and cause more flooding at every opportunity we can?

Only one minister of works spoke against flooding, and we said he was mad. And that was John Humphrey in 1986 when the island was cut in two by flooding for days and one woman died while stuck in the flood. The then minister of works promptly denied all responsibility (of course), declaring that "flooding was an act of God," which our hapless media reported as fact.

But in the election shortly thereafter, Humphrey summoned the local construction industry and together we came out, cleared and cleaned drains and waterways and stopped the flooding.

So why can’t we do this again? Look at the TV news – backhoes struggling to clear drains of sludge and bush, fallen trees and junk in the waterways, which overflow across roads and into rural homes. Citizens are just accepting their flooded fates because acts of God have them immune to their ability to demand better.

Come on TT! Media, we know what to do, we just pretend we need this religious sufferance.

But please do better than the PNM member in the east-west corridor, who, inventing initiative, cleared all the drains in the upper reaches of his constituency, only to cause havoc downstream.

A hint to those who refuse to learn: You clean and clear rivers from the river outfalls (the Gulf of Paria) and work upstream to the rivers' sources.

PETER O'CONNOR

via e-mail