Oropouche West MP Dave Tancoo has placed blame squarely on the shoulders of the Ministry of Works and Transport for the severe flooding which occurred in his constituency over the last two days.
Following two days of torrential showers, the Riverine Flood Alert for South Trinidad was upgraded to Orange Level on Monday, as almost all the rivers, including the South Oropouche River, burst their banks in communities within Barrackpore, Debe, Penal and Woodland.
Emergency shelters were activated at the Barrackpore Regional Complex, Woodland Hindu School and Esperance Regional Complex.
Tancoo said: “If they had put banks on the rivers like we have been begging the Minister of Works to do, if he had done a proper job of clearing water courses et cetera, this would not have been as bad.”
He claims the flooding was the worst they had ever seen.
Residents in affected areas complained that they were caught off guard, as there was no warning of the level of flooding from official sites and they were left scrambling.