Minister Khadijah Ameen Calls For Retention Ponds To Be Part Of Community Planning
Minister of Rural Development and Local Government Khadijah Ameen is advocating for the inclusion of retention and detention ponds as part of community planning to help reduce flooding in vulnerable areas.
Speaking at the launch of the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries’ ReLeaf TT initiative on Tuesday, she said these water-holding systems should not be isolated from communities but integrated into development plans.
She pointed out that this would allow excess rainfall to be temporarily stored and released naturally over time, thereby reducing the risk of flooding.
« As Minister of Rural Development and Local Government, I would like to see retention ponds and detention ponds become parts of communities. It is not an area that it should be remote and isolated. We can incorporate those into the community by having ponds, and you have them there to hold water while the rain is falling, and the water would seep off naturally afterwards, but you would not have this big set of flooding. »
She noted that, as Member of Parliament for St Augustine, she is familiar with the challenges posed by flooding and believes both water management infrastructure and reforestation efforts can contribute to long-term solutions.
« It will have a meaningful impact on flood mitigation and flood management. So I am keen to see this project succeed, and I am keen to continue to work with your Minister, Ravi Ratiram, to establish other programmes that will have a positive impact on agriculture, on food production, on water management, and generally it will also impact on local government. »
