NDMC MOVING FORWARD TO ADDRESS 2010 FLOOD AND HURRICANE IMPACT

Wednesday, February 2 – A technical working group of the National Disaster Management Council (NDMC) met yesterday at the Department of Disaster Management to discuss the impact of the recent floods and hurricanes on the Territory’s infrastructure and environment.

Reports on the 2010 impacts were submitted by Dr. Vincent Cooper, a drainage consultant from the University of the West Indies in Trinidad and Dr. James Joyce, a professor of engineering geology and landslide expert at the University of Puerto Rico Mayaguez. 

The meeting’s chairperson, His Excellency the Governor Boyd McCleary, said the overall objectives of the meeting were to analyze the reports, develop an action plan to define approaches, identify recommendations, and determine the need for technical support to implement the plan.

The working group is comprised of technical members from within public and private sectors serving on various subcommittees of the NDMC.

According to Governor McCleary, the group is expected to develop an action plan over the next four weeks to determine how the recommendations will be assigned and executed.  He added that once the plan is completed it will be submitted to Cabinet for approval.  

The plan will include priority areas, suggested timeframe for addressing issues within these areas, performance measures and a system for ensuring accurate documentation and effective monitoring. The technical working group will serve for a period of six months. The second technical working group will meet on the 17th February to discuss social vulnerability issues resulting from the 2010 events.