Independent Flood Review By Executive Office Welcomed By SDLP
The SDLP’s Colin McGrath MLA has welcomed commitments made to fully investigate the causes of recent flooding, following a meeting with senior officials in the Department for Infrastructure (DfI) along with party colleague Justin McNulty MLA.
Commenting, Colin McGrath said: “The floods which we saw over the last number of weeks were unlike anything we have ever witnessed.
“While in some areas the cause of flooding was fairly evident, there remain other places, such as Downpatrick where the root cause of the flooding is still more difficult to pin down.
“If we want to prevent this from happening again in the future then we really need to gain a full understanding of what happened, and what went wrong.
“Following a meeting today with senior Department of Infrastructure officials, we welcome the news that the Executive Office will now manage the Independent Review of how the DfI responded to recent flooding.
“This is a really important step to creating a full picture of these events.
“We weren’t particularly impressed that the review would take six months.
“Therefore, all parties were able to impress upon the DfI the need to keep political parties updated and to meet those conducting the review, as well as traders and local community groups.
“This issue is too important to be put on the back burner.”
Colin McGrath added: “Again, this only emphasises the need for a working Assembly and Executive.
“These institutions give us an invaluable ability to raise questions on the floor of the Assembly, to hold Ministers and departments to account and to raise important matters of the day.
“Addressing the recent floods and working to prevent them in future necessitates the return of our institutions.”
