SPC Geoscience Division

Home

Mobile Emergency Operations Centre will strengthen National Disaster Coordination

E-mail Print PDF

Mobile Emergency Operations Centre

28 Mar 2018 | Suva

The Fiji National Disaster Management Office (NDMO) introduced a new Mobile Emergency Operations Centre this week, providing the office with a valuable tool for community disaster awareness, improved communication between Emergency Operation Centres (EOC’s),  and better response times. The Mobile Emergency Operations Centre, valued at FJD 59,000, was made possible through the Pacific Community’s (SPC), Building Safety and Resilience in the Pacific (BSRP) Project, with funding support from the European Union. The opening of the centre was marked by an official ceremony, during which the EU Head of Cooperation Mr Christoph Wagner handed over keys for the mobile centre’s Nissan NP300 to Fiji’s Permanent Secretary for Rural and Maritime Development, Disaster Management, and Meteorological Services, Mr. Meleti Bainimarama.

 

‘‘We are very proud of the work born out of the partnership between the BSRP Project and Fiji NDMO. This emergency vehicle is a result of the need identified by the Project to strengthen NDMO capacity. What we see here before us is only a small glimpse into a larger chain of activities the Project and NDMO are working on to build national disaster resilience’, Mr. Bainimarama said.

In addition to the vehicle, the BSRP project, in partnership with the Fiji NDMO, has refurbished three Emergency Operation Centres (EOC’s) in Fiji, installed water tanks in drought prone areas, and relocated Tukuraki village following a massive landslide. Speaking at the handover, the Head of Cooperation at the EU Delegation for the Pacific, Mr Christoph Wagner said ‘The EU is pleased to support the Fiji NDMO through the provision of an emergency vehicle which will help to link with evacuation centres or health centres. We hope that today’s handover will enable the NDMO to increase the operational capacity of their team before, during and after disasters”.

SPC Deputy Director of the Disaster and Community Resilience Programme, Rhonda Robinson highlighted the Centre as part of Pacific wide efforts to be better prepared for disaster response. ‘As we are in the midst of disaster season, the handover of the emergency vehicle is a timely reminder to all Pacific Islanders that we need to take a proactive approach to disaster preparedness. Let us not wait until we hear the warning siren to prepare, we must prepare for future disasters today’.

 

Media contacts:

Peni Kunikoro, NDMO Communications Officer Fiji Government. Email: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Vivita Matanimeke, BSRP Communications Consultant. Email: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Last Updated on Tuesday, 24 April 2018 09:40  

Newsflash

The annual Pacific Geographic Information System and Remote Sensing (GIS/RS) User Conference will be held from Tuesday 25 - 27 November, 2014 in Suva.

The Conference will be held at the Japan Pacific ICT Centre located at the University of the South Pacific (USP), Laucala Campus and will be opened by the Permanent Secretary of Lands, Mr Tevita Boseiwaqa and the Secretariat of the Pacific Community’s (SPC) Applied Geoscience and Technology Division Director, Professor Michael Petterson.

The theme of the 2014 Conference is “Empowering Pacific Communities through Improved Geospatial Data” where more than 200 participants are expected to converge.

The three-day conference will include plenary presentations and technical sessions to address themes that include but are not limited to using GIS in forestry and landcover, coastal and marine, spatial open source data, disasters, geodetic infrastructure, utilities, and education with case studies from Pacific Island countries. The conference will also showcase the latest technology and applications on GIS presentations.

Dr Wolf Forstreuter, Head of SPC’s GIS/RS Unit commented that this is the only conference in the GIS & RS user community where Pacific Islanders have an opportunity to showcase their GIS & RS applications and meet representatives of spatial data resellers, software, hardware vendors, and scientific specialists. He added, ‘There are some regional conferences in Hawaii, New Zealand and Australia; however, the level of participation by representatives from the Pacific region is often limited at those meetings, as compared to the Suva conference.’