http://www.antiguasun.com/paper/?as=view&sun=503300026707302007&an=183401086007262007&ac=Local&aop=492727086107262007

St. John's, Antigua & Barbuda, July 26, 2007 (Antigua Sun) - The building currently housing the National Office of Disaster Services (NODS) looks like it has been through its fair share of disasters, but the nearby headquarters now under construction is to be a shining example of preventative disaster management in action.

The new headquarters is being built in the yard of the current NODS building on American Road. The new building is a 5,000 square-foot steel frame reinforced structure.

Director of NODS Philmore Mullin said the building has been designed with a variety of disasters in mind, including fire, earthquake and hurricane.

“The nice thing about this building is that it is specifically designed and built for the purpose it is going to be used. It is a national emergency operations centre,” Mullin said.

The building costs around $2.5 million and the funds were provided by the United States Southern Command (US Southcom) and the government of Antigua and Barbuda.

It contains a media briefing room, with full ICT capabilities and a projection screen for presentations. There will also be a telecommunication centre that will contain satellite phones and VHF radios and other relevant pieces of equipment.

It will act as a nerve centre of operations in Antigua and Barbuda and the region in times of emergency and will enable NODS to tap into any telecommunications system on island to communicate with the police, fire, army and emergency services.

Antigua and Barbuda is one of four regional focal point areas for the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Response Agency (CDERA).

Mullin said NODS will also have access to a detailed database of historical disasters and responses that will allow experts to make operational projections in similar circumstances. “It gives us an opportunity to make informed decisions and pass to the political directorate in a timely manner,” he said.

There will also be an operations room where, in the event of a disaster, representatives from key agencies including the Defence Force and public health officials, will be stationed.

These people will have access to their operation arms of NODS and information will be fed into the system and analysed for more response options.

There is also an executive briefing room – in the event of operations in the country completely shutting down – where the prime minister or representatives from the government can be briefed directly on disaster procedures and mitigating measures can be worked out immediately.

The building also contains offices, a kitchen with its own generator, a storeroom for maps and charts and bathroom facilities.

There is also a storage facility, built to the front of the premises, similar in size to the main building. Under the CDERA agreement, it will be used to keep emergency disaster management material for the use of Antigua and Barbuda, Anguilla, Montserrat, St. Kitts/Nevis and the British Virgin Islands (BVI).

Construction began in April and is close to completion. Mullin said the subcontractors have finished in record time.

He said that if anything was shipped, the warrants were sent ahead by US Southcom and cleared from Customs immediately, so materials were always at hand.

Although the building was scheduled to be finished by September, Mullin said he fully expects it to be finished before then. Operations will be moved to the new building while the old one is readied for demolition.

Its removal will make way for the construction of a one-storey building which will hold administrative offices and training facilities.