The new Western Province Emergency Operation Centre (EOC) was officially opened at Gizo on Friday 18 October 2013. Construction of the new EOC was made possible through funding from the European Union under the Disaster Risk Reduction Project (B-Envelope) implemented by the Applied Geoscience & Technology Division, Secretariat of the Pacific Community (SPC) based in Fiji. The representative from SPC, George Beck, stated that Gizo is vulnerable to multi-hazards and the new EOC will provide a dedicated building from which to coordinate response to disasters as well as carry out their day-to-day operations. He further stated that communities are already experiencing impacts to climate change and SPC is also working closely with the national Government to address important areas in policy and planning to reduce the risks to disasters. |