|
|
|
 |
|
|
Gracita blasts Govt for lack of response
by The Daily Herald
Posted: Aug 3, 2005 14:23 UTC
|
PHILIPSBURG - Government should have held a special meeting on Monday to discuss an emergency plan for victims of Saturday’s flash flooding, according to Councilwoman and leader of People’s Progressive Alliance (PPA) Gracita Arrindell.
“While we all enjoy spending August Monday on Anguilla, a responsible and concerned Executive Council would have required all of its members to be present at a meeting to address on an emergency basis the serious needs of our people,” she stated in a press release Tuesday.
She said that “several” Commissioners “couldn’t wait” to get on private boats to “escape” the “challenges” of the people caused by flooding. She said people “ought to have been told” about the possibility of flash floods “had the Meteorological Office worked properly.”
“There comes a time when our Commissioners must be prepared to put aside their entertainment and fun in the interests of the people. She said she was “struck” by the “devastation” and “physical dislocation” caused by government’s “failure” to provide “proper” communication and advice and to open the floodgates in time.
“I was confident that there was going to be a special emergency meeting of the Executive Council to review the causes of the ‘miscommunication’ and the specific detailed plan to assist the people,” she stated.
“Did anyone tell the Executive Council that we had an emergency over the weekend and every minute and hour counts for those of us who have had their homes, schools, streets, neighbourhoods or personal family members either injured or deceased?” she said.
“Government just does not get it. The people want a responsible government that understands the importance of dealing with an emergency or crisis immediately and with all hands on deck. The people do not appreciate insensitivity and arrogance by their elected officials who think they can continue to thumb their noses in the air and go off to Anguilla to party on August Monday as though nothing has happened in St. Maarten,” she said.
She said the entire matter raised some “serious questions” about the “competence” and management of the Met Office and the Public Works Department, responsible for the opening of the floodgates in cases of flooding. “Official action should be taken against the person responsible for failing to timely open the floodgates, endangering the people,” she said.
Arrindell said she awaited a “full and complete” report from the Executive Council concerning these and other questions about the miscommunication, the opening of the floodgates and why the Executive Council had not meet on Monday to approve a detailed emergency plan.
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
Content © The Daily Herald 2005 - All Rights Reserved.
You may bookmark this web page, print it or e-mail it to
a friend in accordance with the fair-use provisions of
copyright laws. The material is intended solely for the use
of the individual user.
Archiving, redistribution, or republication of this
material
on other terms, in any medium, requires the express
written permission of the author or publication and the
notification of the editors of Caribseek News. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
