Providenciales, 06 Jul 2015 – When the 25 participants in the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency training are done, the first responders should be better able to qualify and quantify the impact of any disaster. During the opening of a three day seminar being held at the Sands Resort, DDME Director Dr. Virginia Clerveaux said the sessions will not only help the country understand what happens, but what it costs.
“There was a lot of emphasis on returning the country to a quick state of normalcy by clearing the roads, pumping water and allowing the country to the normal activities. But in recent times, we recognize that the need to have it documented, the cost of damage, the loss even if it is at a community level and then at a national level is critical to effective disaster management.”
Joanne Persad, Programme Manager of Preparedness and Response for CDEMA who is joined by specialist, General Earl Arthurs shared that Turks and Caicos is the first to take this regional course and bring it to the national level.
“We realize that we need to strengthen the process, we need to harmonize the process, we need to bring several partners who do damage assessment in different ways with different focus together in one single harmonized, streamlined approach to facilitate providing the needs of the impacted population, first and foremost, and to better quantify the damage and loss that has taken place so that it better informs your recovery process at the end of the day. The support that you will get from international partners and donors at the end of the day; so within that context, this particular training course is the first training course we will run at the national level.”
The Planning Department has partnered with DDME on the three day Disaster and Risk Needs Assessment training which has drawn first responders from across the TCI.
