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Last Updated: May 13th, 2008 - 14:53:13 |
Source: http://www.antiguasun.com/paper/?as=view&sun=343821076805122008&an=203111068305122008&ac=Local
Although the new building which is to house the headquarters for the National Emergency Operations Centre (NEOC) has been completed, it has not yet been handed over to local officials.
Director for the National Office of Disaster Services (NODS) Philmore Mullin told the Antigua Sun that they are still waiting on an official word from sponsors before a decision can be made on the opening date.
“Actually we are waiting on a response from the US Embassy,” Mullin said.
The US Embassy will be turning the building over to NODS on behalf of the United States Southern Command (US Southcom).
“We have indicated to them that the facility is finished. We even let them know that we have moved in and that we are in the process of furnishing and upgrading the facility,” Mullin told the SUN. “We have actually started to move like critical bits and pieces across because we have to vacate the old building in preparation for its demolishing.”
The old building is to be destroyed so that construction can start on that side of the office.
The facility is the National Emergency Operations Centre and the issue of the NODS office is phase two to the project. Its removal will make way for the construction of a one-storey building which will hold administrative offices and training facilities.
The new headquarters was constructed in the same compound of the current NODS headquarters on American Road. The new building is a 5,000 square-foot steel frame reinforced structure.
The building has been designed with a variety of disasters in mind, including fire, earthquake and hurricane.
Funding for the building was provided by the United States Southern Command (US Southcom) and the government of Antigua and Barbuda.
The complex will contain a media briefing room, with full information communication technology (ICT) facilities 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.
There is also a storage facility, built at the front of the premises, similar in size to the main building. Under the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Response Agency (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).
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