Region called on to improve disaster planning
By Antigua Sun
Thu, 6 Mar 2008, 13:27
Source: http://www.antiguasun.com/paper/?as=view&sun=382029128403062008&an=204910037203062008&ac=Local
St. John's, Antigua, March 06 2008, (Antigua Sun) - Director-General of the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean (OECS), Dr. Len Ishmael has called on members states to make better planning and investment decisions in order to reduce the risk of future natural disasters.
The director-general was speaking at the launch of the Vulnerability Benchmarking Tool (BTool) in St. Lucia on Tuesday.
“The consequences of natural disasters on economic activity, property, human welfare, and natural resources are devastating. All of these events have greatly affected the productive sectors of the economy, not to mention the impact on the social infrastructure and communities, particularly the poor.
"These images are etched in our minds and serve as hard lessons for all of us. Are they to be repeated time and time again before we take note and address the inherent issues?” she asked.
Referring to today’s competitive global realities and their impact on the economic development of the OECS, the director-general further stressed the need to strengthen and improve the region’s abilities to plan.
“With increasing frequency, member states are facing situations in which scarce resources that were earmarked for development projects have to be diverted to relief and reconstruction following disasters, thus setting back economic growth. Experiences in the Eastern Caribbean clearly show that disasters associated with natural events are fundamentally an issue of development.
"Each natural disaster leaves in its wake overwhelming evidence of how poor planning and investment decisions contribute to vulnerability and increase the risk of future disasters. Sectoral planning, resource allocation and land use decisions must therefore give special attention to the risk profile of our member states,” Dr. Ishmael further added.
The BTool which has been developed for the OECS with funding from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) through its Caribbean Open Trade Support (COTS) programme, seeks to improve the ability of public and private sectors and civil society to plan and implement effective actions that would reduce their vulnerability to natural disasters and improve their economic resilience.
It is an objective instrument which can be used by countries to assess their vulnerability to natural and man made hazards; evaluate the adequacy of existing institutions and policies to address the current disaster situation facing the country; and guide the prioritisation of resources to address critical needs at the developmental level.
The BTool publication which was jointly unveiled and distributed at the launch by the OECS Secretariat and USAID, describes the development of the instrument, outlines the procedures for the vulnerability assessment and illustrates the scoring mechanisms in addition to providing useful information and references for disaster risk management.