BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – A section of the Hispanic community was informed about the importance of disaster preparedness and heard from notable persons from various organizations whom they may need to call upon in case of a disaster.
The meeting was held at the Newtown Community Centre on July 8, and a number of persons heard from the Director of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), Carl Herbert; Chief Fire Officer, Hester Rawlins; Matron of the Joseph N. France General Hospital, Sonia Finley; Assistant Commissioner, Ian Queeley; Red Cross Society Vice President for St. Kitts, Natalie Fough and Chairman of District One for NEMA, Lloyd Lazaar.
Deputy Prime Minister Sam Condor gave some opening remarks where he applauded the SDA Spanish Church (Inglesia de los Angeles) within the Hispanic community for organizing the meeting.
“This is commendable; the meeting is to sensitize you to all the issues to do with disaster management and preparations. It is important that everyone do their individual preparations which will add to the national effort.
Your role here is not solely about your area because you by yourselves cannot provide adequate protection for our country. But your duties and responsibilities is to gather all information, and spread it abroad,” he said.
Condor thanked everyone for taking time out of their hectic schedule to be there and also offered a prayer.
“This (prayer) is very important because while we must do all that is humanly possible to mitigate and to prepare for natural disasters, we must continually seek the protection of the Almighty God,” he said.
The other speakers explained the roles of their organizations and the procedures for what would occur during a disaster.
Carl Herbert of NEMA explained that his organization is a Government department within the Ministry of Homeland Security and is responsible for addressing various hazards such as hurricanes, which cause flooding at times, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, tsunamis and others that may arise.
“We are a small office of seven persons so we cannot do it by ourselves; we work closely with Police, Defence Force, Fire Services, Health Authorities, Red Cross and the Community,” he said.
Fire Sub-Officer Abdias Samuel of the St. Kitts and Nevis Fire and Rescue Service and one of the organizers of the meeting said that it was important that Hispanics in the community, especially those who were only fluent in Spanish, to receive the information and learn how they could receive assistance in case of an emergency.
“We expected a larger crowd, however, we see this as a pilot for future gatherings, to you who are here, thank you for coming,” the officer said.
