KOROR (Palau Horizon, Oct. 28, 2010) - President Johnson Toribiong has signed an Executive Order adopting the 2010 Palau National Disaster Risk Management Framework (PNDRMF) on Tuesday. Executive Order (EO) No. 287 repeals the existing EO 166-99 that was adopted on the Sept. 18, 1998 as the Republic of Palau National Disaster Management Plan. It was issued on May 10, 1999.
That plan addressed a comprehensive response and recovery arrangement. It acts as the mechanism for incorporating disaster risk reduction and mitigation measures to achieve sustainable national development planning mandated in the 2020 Palau National Master Development Plan.
When Robert Smith as Senior Advisor Marine Geophysicist at SOPAC began his exploration of the Monasavu Hydro to determine the amount of sedimentation in the lake, as part of a survey that he began in 1991, in reviewing the data collected with state of the art mapping tools he found more than sedimentation, he discovered a Fijian ring ditch.
With the first mining of Seabed Massive Sulphides (SMS) deposits less than three years from startup in Papua New Guinea, Pacific Island countries have been urged to encourage mineral exploration within their Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) by SOPAC’s Akuila Tawake, SOPAC’s Aggregate Geologist.
A recent initiative could have a major influence on how Pacific Island countries deal with natural disasters. Pacific Disaster Risk Assessment is an ambitious 20-month-long project that has included the Pacific island countries of Fiji, the Cook Islands, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu, Vanuatu, Niue, Nauru, the Federated States of Micronesia, Marshall Islands, Palau, Kiribati and Timor Leste.
