ODPM plans for Disaster Prevention Month in May

Representatives of over 20 key government ministries and agencies met on Wednesday for the inaugural meeting of the National Disaster Prevention and Preparedness Month (NDPPM) Multi-Sectoral Committee.

In a release, the Office of Disaster Preparedness and Management (ODPM), which co-ordinated the meeting, said discussions centred on the activities which would take place in May, which it aims to use to create a heightened national sense of disaster awareness, preparation and readiness, as declared by Cabinet in 2020.

It said May was selected as it is the month immediately before the beginning of the Atlantic hurricane season, which runs from June 1-November 30, and coincides with the wet season. The ODPM said these periods historically represent the greatest disaster-related losses in Trinidad and Tobago.

After a discussion of the major disaster risks the country faces, the participants were introduced to proposals for a four-week period of activities in May which will place focus on a different segment of society each week. The first week will feature the individual and family followed by communities in the second week. The third week will highlight civil society organisations while a whole-of-society approach will be taken in the final week involving the public and private sectors and regional and international bodies.

ODPM CEO Major Gen (Retired) Rodney Smart said the NDPPM would focus on increasing citizens’ participation and knowledge of disaster management during May, and the cross-sectoral committee’s strategic purpose was to develop a national culture of disaster prevention and preparedness. He said this would ultimately increase TT’s disaster readiness and resilience, leading to a reduction in injuries, loss of lives and livelihoods and damage to property.

Smart said this intervention was aligned to both the UN Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction and CDEMA’s Comprehensive Disaster Management approach, the respective global and regional initiatives that government has committed to accomplishing.