MAY PEN, Clarendon — Councillor Scean Barnswell (People’s National Party, Hayes Division) has thrown cold water on the Government’s narrative that Clarendon, one of the worst-affected parishes, was adequately prepared for Hurricane Beryl.

Speaking during Thursday’s monthly meeting of the parish’s municipal corporation, he argued that much publicised drain cleaning before the hurricane gave residents a sense of false hope, which was shattered immediately after Beryl passed.

“I would have seen my Member of Parliament doing some remedial work in some areas, which [was to] clean [a] partial drain here… partial drain there, and not clean the entire drain. But yet still we give the impression – I don’t know who is posting this misinformation on social media – that drains are being cleaned,” said Barnswell.

The MP for Clarendon South Eastern in which his division falls is Pearnel Charles Jr, the minister of labour and social security.

Councillor Scean Barnswell (standing) addressing Thursday’s meeting of the Clarendon Municipal Corporation. (Photo: Oneil Madden)

“Truth and in fact, chairman, is just part of the drain that is being cleaned so it’s a false sense of security that is being given to the residents [for] whoever saw it and said, ‘Yes I will be protected.’ But here comes the rain after the dry hurricane… [and] those same persons who were saying, ‘Thank you, God for sparing me,’ are now complaining that these unclean drains caused their house to be flooded and they lost many of their livestock, particularly those who raise poultry,” Barnswell added.

Unimpressed with work done by central government ahead of the natural disaster, he wants money allocated to councillors to help with hurricane recovery. He has questioned why MPs are allocated financial resources to help their constituents but councillors are not given the same opportunity to help people in their divisions.

“Money is given again to the Members of Parliament to respond to some persons with damage to their house, and there’s nothing for councillors. MPs will get between $13 million to $15 million; councillors is zero dollar… What happen to councillors?” Barnswell griped.

He is of the view that he and his peers are better suited to help residents as they are more familiar with their needs.

“We are first responders. People see us each and every day, more than they see their MP. We know what is happening. We know where the damage is. We know the people who are suffering, but yet still we have nothing to say to them; how we can be able to respond to them and assist them?” he asked.

The locally elected official said he wants to see equity and fairness in the distribution of monetary aid.

“As a second tier of government we need to be treated with the same kind of respect as the Member of Parliament by making financial resources available through the municipal corporation so that the councillors can be able to assist the people in their respective divisions,” Barnswell insisted

Also during the meeting, several councillors reported that many of their constituents had to take shelter at educational institutions, many of which were damaged. Barnswell called for further assessment to be done to determine to extent of the destruction that occurred and the type of help that can be provided.

“I think the welfare unit of the Ministry of Labour and Social Security needs more volunteers to go house by house to check on the damage. Many persons would have tacked on back tangled zinc on their house just to provide some level of shelter and comfort for them, but whenever it rains those houses will certainly leak. The people are wondering if they will be given some assistance to replace those damaged zinc sheets that they have, or will they be bypassed,” he stated.

Barnswell is also calling for a disaster logistics coordinator within the municipal corporation to work alongside the various State agencies.