PM Phillips activates National Emergency Operating Centre

─ for better coordination, response to flooding

Prime Minister Hon. Brigadier (ret’d) Mark Phillips on Wednesday activated the National Emergency Operating Centre (NEOC) to better coordinate and respond to the ongoing countrywide flooding.

Prime Minister Phillips, in his address to the first NEOC meeting, said the activation of the Centre has come at an opportune time.

“The aim [is] to apprise stakeholders of their participation in the NEOC in response to the current flood situation.

To document and consolidate all response actions to date, to determine immediate and medium term needs to maximise the use of resources of all agencies.”

The Prime Minister said agencies involved in the disaster response mechanism must continue their hard work of helping affected persons return to normality.  

“I ask that we continue to work now, with the establishment of the National Emergency Operations Centre in a more informed, driven manner, as we seek to continue relief efforts and plan recovery efforts coming out of this unprecedented flood disaster that has affected all of Guyana.

I thank you all for your work so far and I urge that we continue to work together in a more informed manner, as we seek to bring relief to the people of Guyana and to get them back on their feet in terms of their economic activity and their livelihood.”

Director General of the Civil Defence Commission (CDC), Lieutenant Colonel Kester Craig said the NEOC will be the repository of data on the flooding, which will be analysed before critical decisions are made.

He said if decisions cannot be made at the level of the NEOC, the information will be submitted to the Prime Minister or the President for a pronouncement.

Chief Hydrometeorological Officer at the National Weather Watch Centre, Dr. Garvin Cummings said the operationalisation of the NEOC is fitting as the wet season will persist until August.

He said Guyana will be affected by a tropical wave from Wednesday to Friday evening, which will cause increased rain between two and four inches.

Dr. Cummings said over the weekend there will be a reduction of rain, but on Sunday evening, Guyana will again be affected by another tropical wave with heavy rainfall.

“I want to also encourage as always, that we continue to follow very closely forecast because the weather is dynamic, hydrometeorology is not an exact science, we need to keep updating ourselves then, like I said, the phone lines, email addresses or the national weather centre remain operational.

So…I encourage all of you to remain in contact with the National Weather Watch Centre, so we can continue together, to monitor the situation so we can take the appropriate actions,” he said.

President Dr. Mohamed Irfaan Ali has declared the flooding a national disaster, which allows the Government to seek external assistance, although its local capacity has not been overwhelmed.

The CDC has already contacted the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency (CDEMA) for assistance. Thus far, CDEMA has donated over 500 sleeping cots to Guyana.

A team from the regional disaster response agency will soon be deployed to Guyana to conduct a Detailed Damage Sector Assessment (DDSA). Lt. Col. Craig said the report from the DDSA will inform the social economic assessment.

The CDC has already requested assistance from the European Union under its Civil Protection Mechanism, to strengthen its flood relief efforts.

As parts of Guyana continue to grapple with flooding, the Government is working feverishly to provide relief to flood-affected persons.  

To this end, the National Assembly on Monday approved $10 billion in supplementary funding to bolster the nationwide flood relief efforts.

Prime Minister Phillips who championed this sum in the overall $23 billion supplementary budget, said it will help to restart the livelihoods of some of the over 30,000 households affected by the above normal flooding.

Minister of Public Works, Hon. Bishop Juan Edghill; Minister of Agriculture, Hon. Zulfikar Mustapha; Minister of Human Services and Social Security, Hon. Dr. Vindhya Persaud; and representatives of the Ministries of Foreign Affairs, Local Government and Regional Development, Health, Amerindian Affairs, Finance, National Agricultural Research and Extension Institute, Guyana Livestock and Development Authority,  Guyana Defence Force, Guyana Police Force and the National Data Management Authority also attended the meeting.