The Natural Disaster Management Act, 1998 is under review and is in its final stage.
The NDMO director Vasiti Soko highlighted this while addressing and welcoming the US Congressional team at the NDMO Warehouse at Walu Bay in Suva last Monday.
“That is now with our Solicitor-General’s office,” she said.
“One of the key changes that we have in the Bill is that we remove the word ‘natural’ to ‘national’ which will give NDMO the mandate to coordinate all disasters except civil unrest.
“National Humanitarian Policy is also under review.
Ms Soko said Fiji was the first country in the Pacific to have the approved anticipatory action framework.
“This is the framework that would allow money to be dispersed to the communities or to persons living with disability to ensure that they are better prepared before a disaster strike.
“So, this is an effort that not only Fiji government has been doing solely, it has been a very collective partnership with all our UN partners, making sure that all communities that are affected that they have enough support given to them before any impact.”
