The Ministry for Environment and Energy has announced that five primary projects are expected to be implemented on La Digue to tackle the flooding problems. The Minister for Environment and Energy Prof. Rolph Payet was speaking after a working visit on La digue where water has subsided remarkably and in less time compared to last year's flooding, proving that the water outlets and channels are functioning.
Also present for the visit was the Minister for Home Affairs and Transport, Minister Joel Morgan, both Ministers visited different sites but concluded that most water in the plateau area has drained. What are left are pockets in and around residential areas. Minister Payet explained that five projects are expected to be implemented to ensure flow of water in these areas. But as this will involve construction of drains which will run through several plots, all concerned will be consulted. By the middle of next week a meeting will be held with the Ministry for Land Use and Habitat to ensure the smooth implementation of these priority projects.
These five projects are emergency projects and are part of the master plan for drainage for La Digue. Once those projects have started, the drainage task force will resume it design works for the remainder of the plateau. It is to be noted that the drainage master plan for La Digue will be implemented over several years at cost exceeding 40 million rupees.
On the island, all key Ministries and agencies are working together, to ensure that all mitigative measures are taken to minimise the impacts in the event of more rain. As health risks are a real issue now, Minister Payet says together with the Ministry of Health, all necessary precautions are being taken to prevent the spread of diseases. However members of the public are urged to call DRDM on tel: 4672200 if they need assistance with issues related to septic tanks or if they need other assistance where contamination are concerned. On issues related to PUC members of the public are being asked to call the following numbers: 4678910, 4678160, 4678191, 4678192.
Key responders were also mobilised to attend to different cases on Mahe and Praslin, cases reported related mostly to flooding, blocked drains and culverts, all serious cases have been attended to. Officers from the Ministry for Environment and Energy will however continue to monitor these situations during the weekend.
The National command centre remains operational and all key responders will be kept on standby even though the weather is expected to improve within the next 24hours.
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