Brades, Montserrat,  March 12, 2007 (Government Information Unit) -  Montserrat’s Chief Minister the honourable Dr Lowell Lewis will lead a Caribbean Community (Caricom) delegation to a Disaster Management symposium in New York, in June 2007.

The team will include Montserrat’s Director of Disaster Co-ordinating and Monitoring Agency (DMCA) Captain Horatio Tuitt, Chairman of the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Response Agency (CDERA) the honourable Dwyer Astaphan of St. Kitts, the honourable Dean Peart of Jamaica, Anguilla’s Deputy Governor Mr. Stanley Reid and Coordinator of CDERA Mr. Jeremy Collymore.

Chief Minister Lewis and his team will visit New York’s Office of Emergency Management to look at the organisation’s institutional infrastructure and examine its disaster management practices and methods.

It’s expected they will also use the opportunity to share information on the regional initiatives Caricom member states are undertaking in respect of Comprehensive Disaster Management.

Montserrat’s Chief Minister, the Honourable Dr. Lowell Lewis will also make a special presentation on disaster related experiences in Montserrat and the region and promote the proposal for a School of Disaster Research, Education and Management on Montserrat.

Coordinator of the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Response Agency (CDERA) Jeremy Collymore explains that the New York mission fits into Caricom’s push to effectively manage all threats the Caribbean faces.

“The Caribbean Community (Caricom), within the theme building Resilient Communities is seeking to broaden its capacity to manage all threats that face the Caribbean. Caricom is becoming increasingly aware of the need for enhancing its capability and capacity to address the consequences of man-made events. To this end much attention is being directed at consequence management says Collymore.”

Chief Minister Lewis says: “It is my hope that there will be representatives for the Congressional Homeland Security Committee attending the seminar, so that they may be encouraged to provide financial support for the Disaster Management and Climate Change institutions in Montserrat and the Caribbean.”

Source: http://www.giu.gov.ms/news/