Saturday, December 20 2008

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A landslide on the North Coast Road yesterday....

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GOVERNMENT yesterday went on full alert, dispatching personnel from state agencies to deal with problems caused by flooding in Diego Martin and landslides along the North Coast Road and environs.

“We took quite a lot of licks,” St Ann’s East MP Anthony Roberts told Newsday in a telephone interview as he visited the affected areas in his constituency. Roberts said the Government’s resources were mobilised and he was doing what he could to ensure that affected persons get relief as soon as possible.

He said he visited parts of St Ann’s East on Thursday night and the damage was particularly bad in Santa Cruz and Maracas.

“The river crossed the road in places like Hololo,” he said. Roberts was comforted by the fact that personnel from the Ministries of Works and Transport and Social Development have been in the constituency to make a first hand assessment. Minister in the Ministry of National Security Donna Cox said the Office of Disaster Preparedness and Management (ODPM) “has been on the ball” and was coordinating relief efforts between various government ministries and other bodies.

She said it was timely that her ministry recently conducted the Scarlet Ibis exercise “to prepare us for any disaster.” CEPEP company chief executive officer Turkessa Blades said CEPEP crews had been sent to the affected areas to help where they could.

Blades said CEPEP workers were doing clearing operations in La Seiva yesterday but have been unable to go to the North Coast Road because the area had not been deemed safe by engineers from the Works Ministry.

Once clearance is given, CEPEP workers will be deployed into the area.