BRADES, Montserrat, May 19th 2011 – Montserrat was represented at the fourth FCO/DFIC pre-hurricane season disaster management seminar in Miami this week by Tom Regan of the Governor’s Office and DMCA Director Billy Darroux.
The three-day meeting brought together Heads of Governor’s Offices and National Disaster Coordinators from the Overseas Territories in an interactive forum to raise concerns they may have about local state of preparedness and options for obtaining assistance from other OTs and the UK Government.
Former Governor of Montserrat Frank Savage co-chaired the seminar with Roger Bellers, the DFID Disaster Risk Reduction advisor based in Bridgetown, Barbados. On Thursday, the group explored inter-OT cooperation and the UK aid priorities.
Montserrat hosted the first FCO/DFID seminar in 2008 and Miami in 2009 and 2010. Although there was concern about the high cost to host the event, DFID said feedback from the 2010 seminar said that the participants “valued the briefings on the state of preparedness and response arrangements from the FCO, DFID and Captain and Senior Officers in the Atlantic Patrol Task (North) as well as the opportunity afforded for inter-OT co-operation and sharing of best practices.”
DMCA director Billy Darroux said the seminar also discussed the regional response mechanism of the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency (CDEMA) and included preparedness for tsunamis, earthquakes, and health hazards.
He added that Montserrat was commended for having an excellent cholera plan by Dr. Robert Lee of PAHO.
All Caribbean OTs Disaster Management directors were invited to make presentations on areas of particular strengths and perceived weaknesses and to share experiences and best practise with fellow Directors.
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Montserrat News