President Wavel Ramkalawan chaired a third follow-up meeting yesterday morning at State House, in the presence of all relevant stakeholders to review the status of proposed remedial solutions in relation to issues of flooding in Victoria and surrounding areas. At the start of the meeting, representatives of key departments and agencies reported on immediate steps taken mitigate future flooding in these areas.
As per the monthly consultations, the technicians present briefed the Head of State on their actions and key remedial strategies for various key locations prone to flooding on the island. This also included an challenges or issues being encountered since the last discussion.
During today’s meeting, aside from Victoria and the surrounding districts other key locations such as the Point Larue region which experienced some flooding recently was also raised. The technicians shared their inputs and proposed various corrective actions on how to mitigate the situation. Further discussions is expected to take place along with other key relevant authorities.
The relevant stakeholders present also gave a review of preventative actions due to the recent heavy rainfalls should it continue to persist. Hereon, the President called for a more coordinated work approach with the involvement of all partners, especially when there are site visits or ground work being implemented.
The meeting this morning was also a platform for all agencies and departments to put forward their timeframe for assigned actions and tasks. Whilst other authorities such Police and Public Health Authorities will also be looped-in to intensify monitoring and fining of members of the public engaged in illegal dumping, in this case referring to in debris rivers, which is one of the major causes of flooding in certain areas.
Following the meeting, the President said that he is very encouraged by the progress attained so far and hopes that the work continues to progress as all the relevant authorities collaborate to ensure necessary actions are executed.