Public Servants trained in Disaster Preparedness and Management

Participants in the Service Commissions Department Comprehensive Disaster Management training session have been encouraged to put their newly acquired disaster preparedness and management skills to use.{{more}}

The workshop, held in collaboration with the National Emergency Management Office (NEMO), took place at the Service Commissions Department Training room on Monday, October 10, 2011.

The workshop was one of a series of workshops that will occur between October 2011 and May 2012, designed to provide public officers with an understanding of disaster management.

Making brief remarks at the opening of the workshop, Godfred Pompey, Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of National Security, Air and Sea Port Development, stated that disaster management is not only NEMO’s responsibility, but everybody’s business.

Pompey stated that as public officers, participants must not only be knowledgeable of disaster management issues, but must be equipped with necessary skills to devise plans to deal with such issues. Wishing participants all the best during their workshop, he also encouraged participants to take the process to the next step, ensuring that plans do not stay on shelves, but are implemented and put into practice.

Giving the keynote address at the opening ceremony, Chairman of the Police and Public Service Commissions Cecil “Blazer” Williams stated that natural disasters such as hurricanes, cyclones, tsunamis and volcanic eruptions have made us aware of the importance of always being prepared. Williams stated that from his understanding, the workshop has three objectives. These include enhancing public officers’ knowledge of disaster preparedness and management, providing officers with the opportunities to learn about and discuss potential measures to implement during disasters, and development of disaster plans for individual ministries.

Williams added that disaster preparedness is not just the function of training public officers, but the process also focuses on the amount and quality of physical space available and the equipment and materials available.

He added that certain departments should always be in a constant state of disaster resistance and impregnability. Such departments, he said, include the Registry, the Lands and Surveys Department, the Seismic Unit, National Archives and the Milton Cato Memorial Hospital.

The workshops, Williams added, will not only enhance the capability of the respective departments involved, but will also enhance the capabilities of families and communities to deal with disasters.(OS)