The National Disaster Management Committee met on Tuesday morning, May 29th, to assess its position going into the new and upcoming hurricane season, as well as to evaluate its post-storm performance and any work that is still ongoing as a result of last year’s passage of Hurricane Irma.
While the meeting was in progress, Lord Tariq Ahmad of Wimbledon joined the group at the table as part of his activities while visiting the island during the week. Lord Ahmad was introduced to the committee members by Deputy Gov. Perin Bradley who had been chairing the meeting.
Mr. Bradley expressed thanks to Lord Ahmad for coming to the meeting, and said: “We do appreciate the support given by the UK Government in the aftermath of Hurricane Irma, particularly the part you played in helping us to get our power back. It was quite phenomenal. We are also grateful for the supplies and contributions from DIFID.”
He went on: “The major challenge for us is feeding our needs directly in to the UK Government. We want to know that those needs are relayed to the UK unfiltered. There is a need for you to get a keen understanding as to what is happening ‘on the ground’ in times of such disasters. The key thing is for you to trust us ‘on the ground’. We are the ones who deal with such issues, and we will have a keen sense as to what’s happening.
“This team around the table is pretty well experienced. They have all been through incidences before and it is those incidences that we draw from. The bottom line though is that we are appreciative of the attention that Her Majesty’s Government has given to us. By you being here, it indicates how serious and interested you are about supporting the territories under these conditions. We thank you for your time and you attention.”
Lord Ahmad expressed his admiration for the Disaster Preparedness team by saying, “I want to say thank you all for your efforts last year. You all have responded well to what was extremely challenging situations. The important thing now is moving forward.”
He continued: “The primary purpose of my visit to various overseas territories is about hurricane preparedness. And this preparation is going on at the top level strategically across the region.
“In this regard, we are talking to international partners to establish a one-region approach so that, wherever a hurricane impacts, they can make a very concerted collaborative international response to that area.
“It is equally vital that in each country, and in each territory, that we see this kind of operation which we see here today. This is vital because, with this kind of preparedness, you can relay back information as to what is happening specifically in every street and in every affected district of the country. I want to say thanks for the tour which I was on a while ago – seeing the elements that played parts in the experience.”
The tour Lord Ahmad referred to was a walk-through of the adjacent areas of the disaster preparedness facility which house the operations as an emergency center. The tour was conducted by Ms. Melissa Mead, Director of Disaster Management. She guided Lord Ahmad through various aspects of conditions pre, during and post-storm, and covered areas such as food and water supplies; shipping capabilities; emergency power generators; priority electricity restoration for essential services; fuel and transportation; debris clearance; safe procedures; coordination of banking services; private sector support; and communications, etc.
After being thanked for his visit by Deputy Gov. Bradley, Lord Ahmad’s parting words were: “We leave you with our hope and our prayers.”
