| CHARLESTOWN, Nevis: June 28th 2005 Following last week�s floods on Nevis, Premier Vance Amory is assuring Nevisians that his administration is continuing to look at some of the critical areas to determine what is to be done urgently to make some corrective and mitigative measures to minimise additional damage in the future. Premier Amory, who is the Chairman of the Nevis Disaster Management Committee, made the observation Thursday at the first meeting of the revised Disaster Management Committee that was held at the Red Cross Building, Chapel Street in Charlestown. In attendance were most of the committee members, among them four permanent secretaries. He informed the meeting that the Cabinet toured some of the worst hit areas last week and that he had received pictures taken of other areas affected by the floods by Mr Lester Blackett (Director of the Nevis Disaster Management Office), which the government must address in respect of the floods. �But this meeting goes beyond that,� observed Premier Amory. �We have to look at disaster preparedness and management and mitigation in its widest sense and nothing can be omitted from the oversight of the office. We take this seriously and I want to encourage each one of you to take your involvement in a committee of whatever type seriously.� He outlined that the meeting was not only to further advance and discuss certain important aspects of putting together a number of sub-committees, but also to ensure that the committee members were fully aware of what was expected of them as a committee and also what was expected of each person individually in event of a disaster. Director of the Nevis Disaster Management Office, Mr Lester Blackett, who chaired the meeting, said that eight sub-committees had been formed and part of the meeting was to discuss the sub-committees� composition, functions and formations. According to Mr Blackett, there will also be five district committees, one for each parish that will each be headed by a chairperson. The committees will also be set up at village levels. �There will be various committees in various villages so as to reach as many people as possible so as to get community support in the event of things like floods, as it is very difficult for Public Works Department and for other departments to go round the entire island, and also to go into each village in a short period of time,� commented Mr Blackett. To make those committees effective, Mr Blackett observed that the Nevis Disaster Management Office is proposing that a cadre of volunteers be set up. The volunteers would in the event of a storm, hurricane, and floods call into the main disaster office, and would report in terms of what is happening in their particular areas. �From that point, we (the Nevis Disaster Management Office) should also operate as the emergency-operating centre, and we would then be able to communicate with all the departments and advise them in terms of what are the problem areas, what needs to be done and have them respond.� |
| DISASTER COMMITTEE MEETING NEWS |
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