Unicomer donates tablets to Habitat for Humanity TT

Unicomer (Trinidad) Ltd donated ten tablets to community members from Port of Spain and surrounding areas, who successfully participated in a PASSA training programme facilitated by Habitat for Humanity TT.

The Participatory Approach to Safe Shelter Awareness (PASSA) is a training methodology designed to raise residents’ awareness levels about existing risks and vulnerabilities within their built environment. The eight-part interactive programme aims to encourage communities to adopt safer and more sustainable housing and settlement practices, said a media release.

Since June, Habitat for Humanity TT has been holding the training intervention as part of a broader project, Accelerating the Essentials and Making Port of Spain a Resilient City 2030 – a multiphase initiative sponsored by USAID’s Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance. It brings together local, regional and international policy-makers, government officials, civil-society organisations, the private sector and academia, to discuss risk and vulnerability assessments, programme design, financial management and other strategies, using the UN’s Ten Essentials as a guiding framework.

During a presentation at City Hall on November 17, hosted by the mayor of Port of Spain, alderman Joel Martinez, Unicomer’s public relations officer Shahad Ali said the company had long held a deep interest in supporting the people of TT in myriad ways.

“What truly motivated Unicomer to collaborate with Habitat TT on this particular occasion was your targeted effort to reduce the risks of disasters that threaten the lives and livelihoods of people who reside within the capital city and environs,” he said.

“Data collection can be an arduous task and we applaud the newly-trained community members, all of whom have been contributing their time as volunteers on the project,”

Habitat TT’s national director Jennifer Massiah also expressed gratitude to the PASSA training participants, and confirmed that the tablets will be used to further the community data-gathering process using GIS mapping, and for additional training in disaster risk reduction which Habitat TT will host in the coming weeks, the release said.

Part of a global initiative, the PoS Making Cities Resilient project is being undertaken through the mayor's office, with a critical deliverable being the development of a disaster risk-reduction action plan for the city
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