The Civil Defence Commission (CDC) hosted its last capacity-building workshop on ‘Damage Assessment’ on Tuesday ahead of “Operation Flood Gate 2012,” which will test the national response system and the national and regional disaster plans that have been put in place.
Major Kester Craig, Operations/Training Officer,noted that it was critical for participants to understand the definition of basic concepts such as disaster, hazard and emergency, since a damage assessor must accurately report and compile materials gathered in the field.
“We would not like to know that you are sent to assess a situation and you are told to compile a report… in your report you classify the incident as a disaster, whilst it is an emergency,” Craig said, according to a Government Information Agency (GINA) report.
The session, which ended in an in-door practical assessment, exposed participants to topics such as Disaster Risk Management, Damage Assessment and Needs Analysis System, Data Gathering, Damage Assessment Process and Mechanism, Teamwork and the Role of the Military in Disaster Management. The two-day training concluded with participants conducting a practical, in-the-field assessment of a disaster area.
Craig said that Guyana’s geography, coupled with the fact that 70% of its population resides on the Coast—which accounts for 75% of the country’s GDP—remains consistently vulnerable to flooding and other types of natural disasters.
According to GINA, last Friday the CDC concluded a two-day training seminar in Emergency Operations Centre Management, which trained participants to function in such a centre.
The agency continues to work with support from Cabinet to boost Guyana’s response to disasters in order to mitigate it against the effects of climate change. The CDC is focused on preparing a regional disaster plan for all 10 regions and Operations Flood Gate 2012, will see such a plan for Region Three being tested, before its adaptation.
