Source: http://www.nationnews.com/story/27541682452856.php

Bridgetown, Barbados, June 17, 2008 (Daily Nation) - Barbados is halfway towards having a model for disaster risk management strategy and a plan of action for the regional tourism sector.

The Caribbean Disaster Emergency Response Agency (CDERA) is working on a million-dollar pilot project to develop the plans.

"This is a national consensus building workshop where we have gotten all the national stakeholders in Barbados, members of the tourism sector, and members of the disaster management sector, to decide what will go into the strategy and action plan," CDERA project coordinator for Regional Disaster Risk Management for Sustainable Tourism in the Caribbean, Patricia Maughn, said yesterday.

She was speaking to the Press during a break in an all-day workshop at Sherbourne Conference Centre, Two Mile Hill, St Michael.

The three-year project, which started in January 2007, is at its mid-point with a contribution of US$800 000 in grant funds from the Inter-American Development Bank, along with contributions from partners like the Caribbean Tourism Organisation, CARICOM Regional Organisation for Standards and Quality and the University of the West Indies.

Maughn said the objective was to get the tourism sector to be aware of all the disasters that could impact that sector.

"We want them to be aware that disaster management is not just dealing with the hurricane season, but there are very many other disasters that can happen to destroy the economy in a very short period of time, and especially the tourism sector.

"We want these two groups – the tourism sector, and the disaster management sector – to come together to realise what must be and to hopefully buy into the strategy and help us to develop a strategy today." (TM)