BASSETERRE, St. Kitts, Jul. 01.2018 - DEPUTY Fire Chief, Abdias Samuel has been appointed to head the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), which takes effect from Monday, 2 July 2018.
Samuel’s new appointment comes after the retirement of former National Disaster Coordinator, Mr. Carl Herbert, earlier this year.
A statement from the Prime Minister press secretary disclosed that the Dr. Harris made the announcement at a simple ceremony yesterday where Dr. Harris made the announcement.
While introducing the new National Disaster Coordinator to staff members at NEMA, PM Harris commended Samuel for his considerable experience, which over the years has seen him work closely with the St. Kitts-Nevis National Disaster Mitigation Council and play an instrumental role in organizing the Annual Summer Safety Program of the SKNFRS.
Mr. Samuel joined the St. Kitts and Nevis Fire and Rescue Services as a Firefighter in January 2000 and has since coordinated and conducted training throughout the Caribbean on behalf of USAID/OFDA. He has trained urban search and rescue teams both nationally and regionally and instructed courses in an array of areas including chemical weapons assistance and protection.
His expertise includes assistance and protection against chemical warfare agents; coordination; firefighting; hazardous materials (Hazmat); incident command system (ICS), information management, and urban search and rescue.
According to the statement, Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of National Security, Mr. Osmond Petty and the Cabinet Secretary, Mrs. Josephine Huggins, were present for the announcement that garnered wide support and expressions of congratulations for Mr. Abdias Samuel.
