Permanent Secretaries and Senior Public Servants met at the Foreign Affairs Conference Room yesterday to fashion a national Comprehensive Disaster Management (CDM) policy and strategy for St. Vincent and the Grenadines.
A release from the Agency for Public Information, API, says once this document is finalized, this country is expected to adopt and implement the CDM policy for the period 2014 to 2023.
Among other things, the draft policy calls for a guarantee to safer and more resilient communities throughout SVG in which the impact of hazards will not hamper economic development and the eco-systems, but rather, would provide for a better quality of life and preservation of the environment.
Speaking at the opening of yesterday’s session, Director of the National Emergency Management Organisation NEMO, Howie Prince said NEMO has been working on the draft policy with the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency (CDEMA) and Consultant Sharlene DaBreo for several years.
Mr. Prince said the discussions with Permanent Secretaries and Senior Public Servants is important as they are the ones who can ensure that “line items are written for budgetary allocations for disaster risk management.”
In this regard, Mr. Prince said that it is important that the Permanent Secretaries become familiar with the CDM policy in order to understand what needs to be done so that this can be reflected in their presentations to the Ministry of Finance.
<
script>
