Sam Rowlands, Member of the Welsh Parliament for North Wales, has called for more support for vulnerable people when dealing with major incidents.
Speaking in the Senedd, Mr Rowlands was responding to a statement from Huw Irranca-Davies, Cabinet Secretary for Climate Change and Rural Affairs, on the water interruption in Conwy.
On Wednesday January 15, a mains water pipe burst near the Bryn Cowlyd water treatment works, Dolgarrog, Conwy and a major incident was declared.
The incident affected many people in the Conwy Valley, Llandudno and Colwyn Bay areas. Supplies for up to 40,000 properties were lost at the height of the incident, and some communities were affected for several days.
Mr Rowlands said:
I just want to echo the comments made by colleagues on the severity of the issue from last week with the burst mains water pipe. I think Darren Millar (Clwyd West MS) pointed out that, whilst it was 40,000 properties affected, it could well have been up to 100,000 people.
I'm not sure that's been properly understood or appreciated, the actual scale of this issue, let alone the businesses and, in particular, farmers and suchlike, supporting their livestock when water wasn't available to them.
I'd also like to add my thanks to the support given by those in the communities, volunteers in particular, who went out of their way to make sure their neighbours were looked after and they were doing their part to make people's lives that little bit better during this crisis.
The brief question I have Cabinet Secretary, is in relation to the vulnerable list and vulnerable people. There's clearly a deficit there of knowledge, of knowing who would be eligible for this support.
I wonder whether you could reflect on how that will change in the future and quickly as well. Lessons learned can often take far too long to come through. This showed a real weakness in knowing who's vulnerable in our communities and how we can get the support to them as quickly as possible when necessary.
The Cabinet Secretary said that he knew the responders were very keen to see if there's a way that they could more rapidly identify not just Dŵr Cymru's vulnerable list, but anyone else identified as vulnerable, and would it be relevant to use that information in a situation like this.
Sam Rowlands AS yn tynnu sylw at ddiffyg gwybodaeth am bobl fregus pan gollwyd dŵr yng Nghonwy yr wythnos diwethaf
Mae Sam Rowlands, yr Aelod o'r Senedd dros y Gogledd, wedi galw am ragor o gefnogaeth i bobl fregus wrth ddelio â digwyddiadau mawr.
Wrth siarad yn y Senedd, roedd Mr Rowlands yn ymateb i ddatganiad gan Huw Irranca-Davies, Ysgrifennydd y Cabinet dros Newid Hinsawdd a Materion Gwledig, ar golli cyflenwad dŵr yng Nghonwy.
Ddydd Mercher 15 Ionawr, byrstiodd pibell ddŵr o'r prif gyflenwad ger gwaith trin dŵr Bryn Cowlyd, Dolgarrog, Conwy a chyhoeddwyd digwyddiad mawr.
Effeithiodd y digwyddiad ar lawer iawn o bobl yn ardaloedd Dyffryn Conwy, Llandudno a Bae Colwyn. Collwyd cyflenwadau hyd at 40,000 o eiddo ar anterth y digwyddiad, a chafodd rhai cymunedau eu heffeithio am ddyddiau.
Meddai Mr Rowlands:
Fe hoffwn i adleisio'r sylwadau a wnaed gan gyd-Aelodau ynghylch difrifoldeb y mater o'r wythnos diwethaf gyda phibell ddŵr y prif gyflenwad wedi byrstio. Rwy'n credu bod Darren Millar wedi tynnu sylw at y ffaith, er ei fod wedi effeithio ar 40,000 eiddo, mae'n ddigon posibl y gallai fod wedi effeithio ar hyd at 100,000 o bobl.
Nid wyf yn siŵr y deallwyd nac y sylweddolwyd hynny yn iawn, gwir faint y mater hwn, heb sôn am y busnesau ac, yn arbennig, ffermwyr ac ati, yn cefnogi eu da byw pan nad oedd dŵr ar gael iddyn nhw.
Fe hoffwn i ddiolch hefyd am y gefnogaeth a roddwyd gan y rhai yn y cymunedau, gwirfoddolwyr yn arbennig, a aeth allan o'u ffordd i sicrhau bod eu cymdogion yn derbyn gofal a'u bod yn gwneud eu rhan i wneud bywydau pobl ychydig yn well yn ystod yr argyfwng hwn.
Felly, mae'r cwestiwn byr sydd gen i, felly, Ysgrifennydd Cabinet, mewn perthynas â'r rhestr o bobl agored i niwed a'r bobl agored i niwed. Mae'n amlwg bod diffyg gwybodaeth yno, o wybod pwy fyddai'n gymwys i gael y cymorth hwn.
Tybed a allech chi fyfyrio ar sut y bydd hynny'n newid yn y dyfodol—ac yn gyflym hefyd. Yn aml, gall gwersi a ddysgwyd gymryd llawer gormod o amser i gael eu gweithredu. Dangosodd hyn wendid gwirioneddol o ran gwybod pwy sy'n agored i niwed yn ein cymunedau a sut y gallwn ni gael y gefnogaeth iddyn nhw cyn gynted â phosibl pan fo angen.
Dywedodd Ysgrifennydd y Cabinet ei fod yn gwybod bod yr ymatebwyr yn awyddus iawn i weld a oes ffordd y gallant nodi'n gyflymach, nid yn unig y rhai ar restr pobl fregus Dŵr Cymru, ond unrhyw un arall a nodwyd fel pobl fregus, ac a fyddai'n berthnasol mewn sefyllfa fel hon.
