A Flood of Errors

The floods over the past weekend, stepped up a notch from what has become an annual phenomenon. From captain to cook, all have spewed a plethora of excuses packaged as reasons for this. Coming in at the top of the list is “an act of god” others include; littering, poor/no development planning, inadequate drainage, clogged drains, altered water courses, illegal dumping of refuse (white waste), high tide/low tide and on and on and on.
Each of us must accept our share of blame, to put it nicely, we are nasty people. It has become part of our culture, for example, to dump our old appliances in a river, and empty lots, cane fields etc. Sometimes we do this out of necessity, not that it’s an excuse, but had the authorities done what they are supposed to do and provide means of disposal of such items, people would not have to practice this part of our culture.

With respect to development, roads, houses/communities, business centres etc we have failed miserable in ensuring that all is done according to the strictest of guidelines for reasons unknown to me. However I can offer some reasonable assumptions and all begins with politics. It’s about garnering support and retaining it. In an interview recently, former Minister of Works, Colm Imbert said the laws related to development are very weak, that people (my words) do what they want, and that the existing laws are difficult to implement.
· Why haven’t we fixed those laws?
· Is it because there is enough influence by particular interest’s groups/persons that blocks any attempts to update our laws?
I am not sure that our flooding is “random act of nature”. The annual flooding experienced here is a direct result of what we do or not do.
· What would happen if we were to experience a category five hurricane?
· Could we then say it was “an act of god”?
But we have already used that excuse every time the streets of Port of Spain floods after 30 minutes of rainfall.
Whatever the reasons for our annual phenomenon, one thing remain critical, we must act so as to prevent this and no amount of rhetoric will ease the pain and discomfort of those affected. Every visit by government official, wearing of boots, handing out of mattresses, hampers, free pizzas or any of the other piece meal gestures would come to zero, if when the rain ends all go back to business as usual.
Immediate plans must be implemented in the short  term to ensure minimal damage to property via floods. De-silting/widening of rivers, clearing of drains, removal of illegal dump sites, immediate stop to all illegal development (put some teeth in the EMA, town and country).

Simultaneously, medium and long term plans must also be drawn up so as to eliminate this problem of flooding. There must be action now, rather than reaction. The Office of Disaster Preparedness and Management (ODPM) needs restructuring, they should be given powers to monitor and hold persons responsible for engaging in acts that contribute to flooding.
Serious action must be a priority, lip service does no one any good, leave lip service for the bedroom.