Monday, November 9 – The Minister for Communications and Works Hon. Julian Fraser, RA gave opening remarks at the 49th Session of Caribbean Meteorological Council today following two other council related meetings held late last week.
During an interview with the Department of Information and Public Relations following the opening ceremony, Hon. Fraser spoke about the need to implement a meteorological office locally.
“The Territory is growing and people rely on the weather in order to conduct business. We boast of being the sailing capital of the world and people who sail need to know what the weather conditions are. If we can predict that here and report it here it makes us the better for business. I think it is very necessary that we do it, I think the time has come and it is long overdue,” Minister Fraser said.
“We have not been able to put together an office primarily for meteorology. The Department of Disaster Management does a fantastic job especially during the hurricane period on disseminating the information. We have to make sure that we work very closely with the Caribbean Meteorological Council in making sure that the weather is reported in as accurate a fashion as possible,” the minister further stated.
The minister admitted that meteorology is one of the subjects in his portfolio that has not been at the forefront. The minister is hoping that the presence of the Caribbean Meteorological Council will help catapult it all the way up to the front.
“The Director of the CMO will ensure that during my chairmanship over the next year, the BVI benefits in a significant way from the organisation,” Hon. Fraser concluded.
“The Caribbean Meteorological Council is the governing body of the Caribbean Meteorological Organization. “Everything we do has to be approved by the council,” Coordinating Director of the Caribbean Meteorological Organization Mr. Tyrone Sutherland told the Department of Information and Public Relations. “One very big issue brought forward to the council from the Board of Governors and the Directors of Meteorology meetings relates to aviation weather services and research projects. The International Civil Aviation Organization, a UN body that governs aviation matters is putting into place very stringent safety measures to ensure that the standards are at a very high and globally accepted quality,” Mr. Sutherland said.
“We are doing everything to get the countries ready. We have discussed and will make recommendations here for the ministers to determine the impact and ramifications. Another issue coming forward is research projects that are now under strain due to budgetary constraints. The council will have to make decisions as to where its priorities are going to be,” Mr. Sutherland concluded.
The council meeting will conclude tomorrow November 10.The council meetings were last held in the Territory in 1983.
British Virgin Islands News