A JOINT National Disaster Management Office and Pacific Integrated Disaster Risk Reduction simulation exercise for Olevuga villagers on Small Gela, Central Islands Province, last Thursday has proven to be a success.
Fiji-based AusAID Officer responsible for the coordination and monitoring of the PCIDRR project in the region Tukatara Tangi told the villagers he and two Australian independent assessors had been very impressed by the high interest they saw.
He said the people’s interest and enthusiasm in the project was evident during the more than one hour exercise and that was what PCIDRR was all about.
Mr Tangi said it is the people in the community who should lead in working together to safeguard themselves against disasters.
The exercise, he said, was part of ensuring they understand their already developed response plan so that when a disaster hits, they would know what to do.
Mr Tangi was accompanied to Olevuga by his Solomon Islands counterpart Judith Tarailopo, two Australian-based independent AusAID assessors Lisa Roberts and Lockton Morrissey as well as Canberra-based PCIDRR Project Manager Paul Smart and the Solomon Islands Project Manager Anne Saenemua.
The simulation exercise was the second the PCIDRR and NDMO have jointly organised as part of ongoing efforts to strengthen disaster risk reduction at the village level.
The first simulation exercise was conducted at Lilisiana village on Malaita in September last year.
Solomon Islands Project Manager Ms Saenemua said the PCIDRR project will continue to help communities develop Disaster Response Plans this year and the next.
Meanwhile, she said another team left on Monday to conduct a three-day training for Dadala, Bokolonga, Siarana and Vunuha also on Gela island while another two have gone to Totongo, northeast Guadalcanal.
She said the trainings would help the communities identify hazards in their surrounding, identify their needs and develop disaster response plans.
PCIDRR is a three-year project funded by AusAID and is helping rural communities in Fiji, Solomon Islands, Tonga and Vanuatu.
| < Prev | Next > |
|---|
