TANCOO: Rohan to blame for flooding
The attempt by the Minister of Works and Transport Rohan Sinanan to get citizens to accept flooding as a normal acceptable occurrence is a desperate attempt to legitimize the deliberate neglect of the infrastructure he inherited according to MP for Oropouche West Davendranath Tancoo.
As residents of his constituency once again experience millions of dollars in losses, MP Tancoo is incensed at the attempt by Minister Sinanan to portray these floods as acceptable in the circumstances. Insisting that citizens should not have to suffer repeated flooding, Tancoo condemned Sinanan’s claim that the low gradient of the land in the Oropouche River Basin as an acceptable explanation.
Tancoo said two years ago, Minister Sinanan declared that in 5 years flooding will be a thing of the past. Every year since then, millions of dollars allocated for drainage and river clearing, maintenance of infrastructure in the budget has been unutilised by the Minister and his Ministry.
The fact is that over the last 7 years the PNM has deliberately starved local government of resources to undertake drainage maintenance works. That is the reason why everywhere in this country is now flooding.
“It is no rocket science when they shut down Petrotrin hundreds of small drains and rivers which used to be cleared, cleaned and maintained by the company were abandoned. Residents are aware that the Minister hired contractors to engage in cosmetic clearing of water courses which could be seen from the roads. Perhaps this was an attempt to give his favoured contractors work but the fact is that what was done was only cosmetic. Where is the National Drainage Plan funded by the Development Bank of Latin America and announced by the PNM since 2019 during the Election Campaign? ” Tancoo asked.
Sinanan’s attempt to trivialize the severity of the floods, and to blame residents and the gradient of the land suspiciously ignores the fact that flooding is now occurring throughout the country whenever rain falls, from the Highway in Cocorite and in Maraval, to Arima and Sangre Grande, Cunupia, Chaguanas and Penal.
According to MP Tancoo “Over the last two years, I have challenged the Minister to come down from his ivory tower and meet the residents and see for himself the fact that several rivers and drains have almost no embankment, many remain overgrown with bushes and trees. In Bamboo Settlement in the North, like Woodland in the South, there is desperate need for reliable pumps. Sinanan insisted that no third pump is required but the pump at the 14 Gate site in Woodland is like Sinanan himself, an antiquated dangerous piece of scavenged equipment not suited for the purpose.”
Tancoo noted that even the pump at Tulsa Trace was not working when he visited the area last week during the floods.
“It is time the Minister takes flooding seriously. Already we have lost a life. Imagine this was not a storm or hurricane. After only a few hours of rainfall, citizens were confronted with rivers flowing through their houses not just in rural areas like Oropouche West but in the developed areas of the East West corridor. It is time that Sinanan stops making childish excuses for having failed to do his job.
Having spent billions of taxpayers’ dollars, the Minister has presided over the worse state of infrastructure in our country from roads to drainage. That may be acceptable for Dr.Rowley who seems to favour incompetence (See Imbert, Hinds, Armour, and Faris to name a few). But taxpayers deserve better. Sinanan should do the honourable thing and resign. Sadly no one can ever accuse the Minister of being honourable.”