Flood experts conclude workshop in SVG

Participants involved in a four-day regional workshop on flood hazard mapping and its use for community disaster planning wrapped up their sessions with a visit to the flood prone area of Marriaqua. {{more}}

With the help of Japan through a 3-year funded project, the flood prone areas of Speightstown, Barbados, San Juan, Trinidad and Marriaqua, St.Vincent and the Grenadines have not only benefited by receiving flood monitoring equipment over the past 3 years, but have also received training from Japan in assessing river flow.

At the opening of the event , held at the Sunset Shores Hotel Tuesday evening, regional co-ordinator of the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Response Agency (CEDERA), Jeremy Collymore, said that while the hurricane season is viewed as a time when the region is on high alert, flood prone areas such as Guyana are feeling the calamity of the period after the hurricane season. He noted that some 290-thousand persons have been affected in the capital Georgetown alone and 140-thousand people were at risk to diseases.

He emphasised that the Caribbean Disaster Management Project (CADM) is aimed at increasing public awareness so that persons know what to do when floods occur. He noted that as the participants move into the final six months of the project, funded by Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), must invest heavily in technological science which also include equipment.

Collymore noted that, “the flooding in Guyana has validated the need for and the urgency of National Flood Hazard Management Programming in participating states.”

The seminar which was organised by the Caribbean Disaster Management Project (CADM), Caribbean Disaster Emergency Response Agency (CEDERA) and the Japan International Co operation Agency, (JICA) was the third workshop since the project on “Flood Hazard Mapping (FHM) and its use for Community Disaster Planning in the Caribbean” began in 2002 and will conclude in July 2005.