The Tribune

THE National Emergency Management Agency is continuing its programme of promoting disaster resilient communities throughout the islands.

With this objective, NEMA, in conjunction with the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency and the Bahamas Technical and Vocational Institute held a Safer Building Code Course on Cat Island, which was severely impacted by Hurricane Sandy in 2012.

On Saturday, March 22, the importance of preparedness to respond to any emergency was underscored by facilitators and presenters to the 30 participants residing on the island.

Senior assistant secretary of NEMA and Gayle Moncur, the programme co-ordinator said that a goal of NEMA is to not only encourage participants to hone their skills, but enable them to make a sustained living.

She said after the passage of Hurricane Sandy, and based on the level of devastation, it was just a matter of the relevant organisations coming together to facilitate the workshop.

The course is being supported through the first phase of the Comprehensive Disaster Management Harmonised Implementation Programme and aims to enhance resilience and build a culture of safety at the community level.

In conjunction with NEMA and CDEMA, BTVI ran a building code course in 2011 and most recently, a Regional Safer Building Course for the Northern Caribbean.

Cat Island was also selected for this training because of the level of construction activity taking place.

The organisers felt it critical to provide this level of training and exposure to safer building techniques in order to enhance the resilience of the island’s residents and reduce future losses.

The course began on March 10 and is scheduled to end March 30.

The purpose is to train a wide-range of professionals to be better prepared to respond to emergency situations in their communities.

It is expected that based on the level of training, that when emergencies happen, persons could give critical support, provide immediate assistance, and organise spontaneous volunteers at a disaster site.

The programme was also designed to enable participants to assist with projects that help improve the safety of their respective communities.

Presentations were also made by Alexander Darville, Dean of Construction, Trades and Workforce at BTVI; Godfrey Forbes, Bahamian Contractors Association, and Charlene Collie, Bahamas Electricity Corporation. The Bahamas Red Cross also conducted lessons in CPR.