CDC establishes Disaster Risk Management System in Region 3

The Civil Defence Commission (CDC) continues to implement Regional Disaster Risk Management Systems (RDRMS) across Guyana, with Region Three (Essequibo Islands-West Demerara) being the latest beneficiary.
The RDRMS was established on Tuesday during the first day of a two-day event, which opened at the Regional Democratic Council (RDC) boardroom, Vreed-en-Hoop.

In his opening remarks, Regional Vice Chairman Sheik Inshan Ayube explained that the RDRMS was necessary since it was critical for the Region to have preparedness and response plans in place to quickly respond to disasters.
Ayube highlighted that Guyana was at risk for many disasters, but these systems are put in place to educate and inform key players to “at least minimise these disasters”.
He noted that for the Region to respond quickly and effectively to disasters, awareness and preparation were critical. He commended the implementation of the RDRMS and encouraged the participants to be aware and prepared for disasters. “We are caught up with our daily lives, ensuring that we are safe, but we must also be aware that disasters can happen anytime so it is necessary for us to also strive to keep our country safe.”
CDC Director General, Colonel (Ret’d) Chabilall Ramsarup, while delivering brief remarks, endorsed the words of encouragement from Ayube. He added that index disaster management was important because “we don’t want to lose our lives from disasters”.
Ramsarup explained that there were persons who were affected by heavy rainfall though it was the hottest time of the year. “Those persons in Region Five suffered great loss from the recent flood because there was not an effective RDRMS in place in the Region,” he explained.
The aim of the forum is to, therefore, have systems in place to address those issues so that all the Regions in Guyana are prepared, the CDC head explained.
“Everyone must know their roles and responsibilities since training was already done; we cannot allow a repeat of the 2005 flood,” he said.
Ramsarup believes that there is nothing better than being fully prepared when disasters strike. The CDC head pointed out that climate change was heavily responsible for most of the disasters in the country since it affected mining, agriculture and infrastructure among other sectors.
“We all need to play our part in keeping Guyana safe from disasters,” Ramsarup urged.
CDC Preparedness and Response Unit Manager, Major Sean Welcome, and representatives from the National Drainage and Irrigation Authority (NDIA); Guyana Defence Force (GDF); Demerara Harbour Bridge Corporation (DHBC); Communities Ministry; Health Centres; National Agricultural Research and Extension Institute (NAREI) and the Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo) were all in attendance.
The participants were educated on preparedness activities and declaring a disaster, preparedness and response functions, roles and responsibilities and emergency operations centre.
In the first week in August, the forum will be taken to Region Six (East Berbice-Corentyne), and by the end of August, with funding from the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency (CDEMA), work will commence in Regions Nine (Upper Takutu-Upper Essequibo) and Ten (Upper Demerara-Berbice) to establish RDRMS, after which they will head to the other administrative regions.
High-frequency radios will be installed in Orealla and Siparuni in Region Six (East Berbice-Corentyne) and Moraikobai, Region Five (Mahaica-Berbice) as part of the strengthening of the regional mechanism to help with early warning.