Dear Minister Lowe
by Wilfred Abrahams
Barbados experienced a severe drought in the first half of 2010.
For more than six months not a drop of rain fell from our skies; in fact, we were cautioned to conserve and save water lest our aquifers ran dry. All Barbadians were encouraged to make preparations in the face of what promised to be an arid season.
All Barbadians, it appears, except you, Dr Denis Lowe, Minister in charge of Water Resources and Drainage (i.e. Minister of the Water Authority and so on)!
While we were installing water tanks, and shutting off pipes, the ministry that you lead was doing nothing except enjoying the sunshine.
“Do you not think that you could have turned your attention to doing some planning and work in the areas that we know to be flood prone?”
Do you not think that even as the earth was cracking that you could have empowered persons in your ministry to do what they were begging to do – which was to get on with the job of flood mitigation by clearing waterways, unclogging drains, debushing canals and generally making preparations for when the rains came?
What, Sir, were you directing your ministry to do? It appears from a cursory glance that your attention was focused on football tournaments and school fairs.
Can you imagine the shame, embarrassment and humiliation that the people in your ministry must have felt when the rains finally came, that after one day of good rainfall Barbados was placed under a flood watch and then a flood warning and, worse yet, that when the inevitable floods came they were “the worst” that people in some areas had seen in living memory?
If you can imagine it, then you would have shown much more ingenuity than you had done for the six months where you appear to have imagined nothing!
What adds icing to the cake is the fact that even as people were being washed away in Christ Church that the taps on the same South Coast were dry for days.
No truer words were ever spoken than “water water everywhere and not a drop to drink!”.
I call on you to explain what you have been doing for the last six months and to apologise to Barbadians in general and specifically to the people in Garner Drive, Enterprise Close, Enterprise Coast Road, Goodland, Wotton, Ealing Park South, off Madison and Bournes Land, Ealing Grove and Platinum Heights – some of these areas you may be aware of, as not two years ago they were considered your constituents.
This is the ultimate and cruelest irony of all, that you seem unable to even protect and keep safe those whom you are sworn to exercise stewardship over.
Sir, a rising tide carries all ships, and even though the tide may now be Low(e), I can assure you that you too will have to account for the floundering of your ship and its unworthiness to handle this most recent mild meteorological event, which has turned into a disaster for many Barbadians,
We remain; anxious, wet, flooded out, flooded in, mud filled and bedraggled Barbadians eager for explanations and leadership.
Yours truly,
Wilfred A. Abrahams
This letter also appeared in The Nation at Fiddling while Rome floods
Photo courtesy of The Nation
Barbados Free Press 
Funny thing about flooding in certain areas.
It always happened before.
It is not new.
How did Water Street and Water Grove Plantation in Christ Church get their names?
Where did we get the name “Gibbons Bogs” from?
Why would you build Sunset Crest in a cane field belonging to Sandy Lane Plantation called Swampy Ground and not expect it to flood occasionally?
When did Swampy Town get its name, or for that matter Gutter road?
As we develop more and more areas of our island we simply rediscover what the old folks knew from long ago, some areas flood and some don’t.
Certain areas at lower elevations will always be flood prone.
I don’t think there is much that can be done about nature in cerain places in times of heavy rainfall.
One only has to watch video of floods and mudslides in other parts of the world to appreciate nature’s awsome power.
Wait till other issues associated with nature express themselves as higher elevations are “developed”!
Lowe is also the Minister in change of the Environment. Little is happening on that front too. I am also eager for leadership!
I have to agree with everything thatWilfred Abrahams said. My experience of my own area in Sunset Crest is that there is no forward planning. When the weather is wet, the drains don’t get cleaned out because they can’t be accessed – but the moment that the weather is dry the problems are forgotten, as if it won’t ever rain again!
Since we moved in, I have installed a large drain through my garden – with pipe provided by the Govt. and a small grant from the Residents’ Association – but largely at my own expense. Having done so, I find that every time I visit, I have to clean out both ends of the drain and the trench into which the water flows – as nobody else seems to bother.
My part of Sunset Crest has one main drain which flows under the main road beneath the Beach Club – it has two right-angle bends inside and is usually full of branches and leaves, so it’s no surprise that it nearly always blocks up when the rain is heavy. We have had many, many promises of a better (and straighter) drain, which never materialise!
Basically, Barbados will always have flood problems – it gets heavy rainfall – but those problems can be greatly minimised by a few simple precautions (keeping drains clear!) and some minor works (building better drains).
I would love to see progress in the future – but I am not holding my breath.
Ian Mills, Sunset Crest Resident.