DISASTER management exercises are vital elements in the campaign against natural disasters, Commissioner Western Jeremaia Waqanisau said in an article published by The Fiji Times on May 6, 1997.
Opening a regional course on training for disaster management exercises, he said such activities were long overdue and needed if the public, government and disaster managers were to effectively mitigate the effects of disasters.
“In my debriefing notes to my headquarters on the recent Cyclone Gavin, I again emphasised the need to exercise, the need to practise disaster management procedures before a disaster strikes,” Mr Waqanisau said.
“The bottom line is that it will cost less for governments to prepare for disasters than to sit around waiting for disasters to strike. We have to learn to prepare ourselves.
“The concept of learning through experience is no longer applicable in this day and age. We need to study and prepare ourselves well in advance if we are to minimise losses.”
Mr Waqanisau said disaster management exercises in mobilisation, communication, evacuation and emergency operation room procedures would allow those involved to know each other, their capabilities, and available resources.
The pilot course aimed to provide participants with the knowledge and skills needed to design and conduct disaster exercises appropriate to the level of disaster management development in their countries.
The course had 16 regional participants, including six from Fiji.
It was conducted by the Australian Emergency Management Institute in conjunction with the United Nations Department of Humanitarian Affairs South Pacific Disaster Reduction Programme and funded by AusAID.
Meanwhile, Mr Waqanisau said survey procedures of damage following cyclones need to be improved.
He said surveys following Cyclone Gavin had not been accurate enough and required some follow-up surveys.
He also called for survey teams to be organised during disasters rather than afterwards, so they could be dispatched immediately once conditions were suitable.
He said survey teams at the time were only being planned for the Yasawa, adding that survey procedures after Cyclone Gavin had not been planned as well as they could have been.
“We did not realise this until we started receiving reports from the survey teams.”
