Several international emergency and disaster preparedness experts were involved in a vital simulation exercise in preparation for the International Cricket Council (ICC) Cricket World Cup (CWC) 2007 yesterday at the Civil Defence Headquarters on Thomas Lands.
Director of the Civil Defence Commission, Colonel Chabilall Ramsarup hosted the exercise and in his opening remarks he said Guyana had been left behind in emergency and disaster planning. “It was not until after the floods of 2005 that we woke up and placed emergency management on the front burner, but by the time the planning for Cricket World Cup 2007 began, the mechanism for emergency planning was in place. We are hosting this exercise in order to be comfortable. In case of any emergency we will know that we are well prepared.”
Brigadier General (ret) Earl Arthurs, Senior Safety and Disaster Manager for ICC CWC 2007, and the Caribbean Disaster Response Agency (CDRA), and Dr Barbara Carby, Director of Hazard Management in the Cayman Islands addressed the participants who were made up of representatives of the Police, Army, and Fire service and other emergency-related agencies.
Seopaul Singh from New York, USA, a professional member of the International Association of Emergency Managers was also there to lend his expertise.
The exercise is to prepare the National Emergency Operations Centre operators and lead agency representatives for their role in CWC 2007. It is also designed to identify the preparation and planning process along with roles and responsibilities of supporting agencies.
The exercise in contingency planning, which lasted the entire day, was divided into vignettes, and covered many different types of emergencies at various locations involved in the mega event.
