The flood response

WHEN freshly-minted Minister of Rural Development and Local Government Khadijah Ameen was photographed in a bright yellow rain slick at the launch of the ministry's 2025 flood mitigation programme, it was tempting to dismiss the event as cosplaying flood response. The reality on the ground as TT came to terms with almost constant rainfall since June 11 proved a hard test for the minister's promise to improve flood management and disaster response. Complicating matters were scheduled CAPE and CSEC examinations. Sixty-seven of 800 schools were closed, based on reports from principals and army trucks rumbled into communities to bring children to school for their exams and back home after.

The initial flood mitigation programme, in operation between May 17 and June 10, was an inter-ministerial initiative that linked the resources of the works, agriculture and rural development ministries across all 14 regional corporations.

Ms Ameen reported that investigations of 200 watercourses nationwide revealed areas where the banks had been significantly eroded and others in which trees were growing in the waterway itself.

Cabinet is said to be considering a comprehensive flood-control plan, which will upgrade floodgates, pumps and riverbanks. But, as the minister explained in May, "This is about more than engineering; it's about political will."

Amid this ministerial operations harmony, there was still room for some notes of dissonance regarding the Office of Disaster Preparedness and Management (ODPM). Public Utilities Minister Barry Padarath dismissed the claim by ODPM CEO Major General (ret) Rodney Smart that his agency is not the first responder, noting that while local government bodies have disaster management units, they are grossly understaffed and inexperienced in managing any significant disaster response.

The Tobago Emergency Management Agency complained of equipment shortfalls because of procurement issues.

More positively two drivers trapped in floodwaters that almost covered their vehicles on Trantrill Road in south St Augustine were successfully rescued. Four hikers lost in Chaguaramas were rescued on the morning of June 13.

Ms Ameen promised to address infrastructure shortfalls. That these issues are being discussed with a view to taking meaningful action is an important step forward.

While flooding affects the entire country, rural districts on the nation's flood plains face ongoing and disproportionate risk of destructive flooding. The government must consider solutions that address the root problems at source and examine the advantages of more permanent interventions, such as retention ponds for watercourses prone to rapidly filling with flood waters.

Public discussion of flood mitigation plans should be part of new initiatives, but preventive action targeting the current rainy season is critically important.

The steady rainfall of the last few days will have saturated the ground, making greater levels of runoff more likely when the rains return.