By Odette Loney Wednesday, August 12 2009

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Mud wash: Residents wash mud from a chair a day after their home at Macaulay, Claxton Bay was flooded during heavy rains on Monday. ...

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FLOOD victims in Claxton Bay and Tunapuna yesterday blamed clogged drains and blocked watercourses for the flash flooding in their communities on Monday and hoped Government would provide financial relief for their losses.

They made this appeal to Minister of Local Government Hazel Manning as she toured flood-hit areas in Claxton Bay, such as Fifth Street, Pranz Gardens and Laloo Trace, Macaulay, as well as areas in Tunapuna and St Augustine, among them Taylor Street, Watts Street and Dry River Extension.

Before the start of the tour, Manning told reporters she wanted to assess the response of the Local Government Ministry and the Office of Disaster Preparedness (ODPM) to hundreds of homes affected by floods after heavy rains over the past three days so her ministry could undertake relief efforts.

As she toured the affected areas, Manning said Tunapuna’s flood damage was worse than Claxton Bay’s and added the Tunapuna/Piarco Regional Corporation and the Couva/Tabaquite/Talparo Regional Corporation had embarked on a drainage clean up. She, however, blamed squatting as a major cause of flooding in Pranz Gardens.

Residents in all of the communities told the same tales of blocked watercourses and inadequate drainage and most asked for financial compensation.

In Laloo Trace, Macaulay, Suzette Ramjattan, 35, said flooding has been commonplace for the past fifteen years. “Stink mudwater was everywhere and every year I have to buy a new stove, washing machine, kitchen utensils and clothes. We are not rich,” said Ramjattan.

Daliah Smith, 30, of Taylor Street, Tunapuna, cried as she told Manning of the loss of eight computers, plus utensils and furniture due to the floods.

She ran an internet cafe.

Residents at Watts Street, St Augustine, spoke of wading in neck-deep water.

Manning listened sympathetically to the affected residents and officials took note of their complaints but nothing was said on if they would be compensated.