 Hello and welcome to yet another edition of Issues and Answers. I am Lucia's doctorate. Every year, the international community observes what they refer to as disaster reduction day. Generally, we refer to it as disaster risk reduction. And to talk about how, particularly in light of climate change, IDSE, and to talk about what our country, St Lucia, is doing, has been doing in terms of reducing the country's, and by extension, citizens' risk to disasters, I have with me three of our key technocrats within government. And to my immediate right, we have Nimo Sherry. She is from the Department of Infrastructure. In the center, we have Mr. Andrew George. She is from the National Emergency Management Organization, NIMO, and Mr. Peter Nobel from WASCO. So welcome to the program. Thank you. Thank you. In terms of disaster risk reduction, which is a big thing globally. And we have witnessed in recent times what has happened with Dominica. And even more recently, what has happened with Michael in Florida, the Florida Panhandle. How seriously is the Department of Infrastructure looking at this? How does it filter that, factor it into its programming? Well, to reduce disaster risk, the department have now focused or shift the aim in building back better. Improving the road infrastructure has to be more climate resilient. And we actually have initiatives, national initiatives within our budget to improve our staff in training and designing for disaster risk reduction. It's interesting you spoke about improving the capacity of the staff. Because usually, when we speak disaster risk reduction, we look at the major projects, the bridges, and maybe the hospitals, and so on. But we don't normally realize that this, the softer projects, like even building capacity, is critical to disaster risk reduction. Mr. George NIMO, well-known throughout the country. Fundamentally, how is it that you focus? What is your central focus and point in as far as reducing the risk to disasters in the country's concern? Well, for us at the national level, as you know, our responsibility is coordinating what happens in the country and in so far as preparing St. Lucia for a disaster event. As you rightly said, the focus has shifted from being a response agency into a more preparation and giving the countries and the communities a chance to prepare themselves for disasters. At the infrastructure level, they do the structural interventions to enable the country to get ready. For us, we do the non-structural, which is we work with the communities to put on drills, to put on training, to build capacity within the communities to enable them to have that better ability to deal with the disaster event. And also, we institute some of the early warning systems that are there to help also to help the communities get more prepared. And as you mentioned, the International Day for Disaster Reduction, which is celebrated on the 13th of October, this year the film was looking at the economies of disaster loss. And that is something now we have to focus on. How much is the country losing every time there's a disaster impact? When we do the damage assessment, you get a sense of how much the country has been damaged. But sometimes the loss, which is the loss of productivity, the loss of the agriculture sector, those take time to recover. So while the fields are down, the loss of livelihoods, all of that is a cost to the country. And every year, worldwide, billions of dollars are lost in disaster events. And once you start to focus on what is causing all those losses, you can now have a better chance of preparing so that you minimize those losses and to restore livelihoods, which is critical. Very, very important point that you made. Because, for example, and the data indicates that in 2016, internationally, there was about $306 billion worth of loss, which was twice, in 2017, by the way, which was twice what it was in 2016, which seems to indicate that going forward, the losses are going to be even more humongous. But water on Peter is critical. Well, it's pre-disaster, but particularly post-disaster. So Wasco has a very significant role to play when it comes to preparing and even responding post-disasters. What is your focus now, considering that we live in an era of climate change? Thanks, Lucius. The thing about it, as you just mentioned, is that we are very conscious now of the climate change issues and the climate impacts. And Wasco is very recently, actually, has been working through a CDB-funded initiative on building its own capacity in terms of addressing climate-related issues. We've just concluded an assignment called the Climate Risk Vulnerability Assessment and Preparing an Adaptation Plan of Action that looks at all aspects of Wasco's operations, how ready we are in terms of addressing the trends in climate change and what steps we need to take to be able to respond and to be in even a better position moving forward. And that exercise is about to conclude. And we are therefore going to have a roadmap, as it were, to guide us in terms of what we need to do, the investments we need to make. And as was mentioned earlier, in terms of some of the other softer aspects of vulnerability assessment and risk reduction in terms of capacity building, both for the staff and also in terms of contributing to national efforts in terms of our population as a whole and in terms of general awareness. So we are taking steps and we are certainly cognizant of the issues and we are putting ourselves in a position to respond. Great. It seems, generally speaking, that as a country, we are quite aware of what's going on and what needs to be done. And certainly from what you've said so far, it means that we are indeed taking steps incremental as they are, but certainly in terms of building and reducing our risk to disasters. Namely, we spoke about the soft projects and the hard projects, the buildings, the construction, but also the capacity building for the staff. What has been happening within your ministry in terms, as it regards building the capacity of staff to better be able to deal with issues, as it pertains to reducing the country's risk to disasters? Well, under the DVR project, which is the World Bank-funded project, there is a component there for capacity building of the department. Presently, there is a German consultant who's actually doing assessment of the department as to the inadequacies, what is missing, what training we require, what equipment and tools we may require to design more resilient infrastructure. So presently, that is ongoing. And after the assessment and the report, DVRP, there's also funding to purchase and procure these equipment and tools and training as well needed for the department. We agree. What has been happening within your own institution, Nemo, in terms of strengthening the institutional capacity of the individual staff on, by extension, the organization as well? We have made some strides in that aspect. Still, baby steps, but I mean, it's important steps to ensuring that the department has that capacity. We have now, particularly, we have 18 district disaster committees around the country where they are at the ground level, and their job is to ensure that the communities, because we want to start at one household, one community, one country, to try to get everybody to be as prepared as possible. And those district disaster committees are at the local level getting persons within the communities as prepared as possible. We have set up some early warning systems in certain communities. We also have what are called broadcast interrupts, where we can interrupt some of the broadcasts, some of the registrations to give out information on an impending event so that persons can get as much time as possible to evacuate if they need. We also now, in the process for this week, we're going to be reviewing our legislation to look at what type of laws we have so as to ensure that some of the laws we have, the last time our laws were reviewed was 2006. So we're now trying to see how to include some of the events, the climate change issues, into those, into those, because with climate change, it's expected that there will be more, not more storms, but more deadly storms. So you will have to prepare for those things. And we need legislation to give us some aspect of ability to do what we need to do. We have to rationalize issues to be all clear how the all clear is given. The national shutdown, we need to know how we shut in the country down. What time to shut the country and how to reopen the country after the event. All of those things have to be enshrined in law so to give us that capacity to do what we need to do. So we have to have a clear, less litigated agenda and we are trying out this week to review what we have and of course to make the recommendations to include what is not there. Okay, great is a good time to take a break but don't go fast, stay with us, we'll be back with you shortly. Climate change can change. We're all infected. If the climate change, we have to take water because of all the animals. When the sea is warmer, we have to find a place where the water is not polluted. We have to find a place where the water is not polluted and go to their side. This list of contributions in small gas in the space. When in the country, we can try to do everything we can to ensure that we lower the amount of gas we use to prevent the earth from getting warmer. And we have to lower the amount of gas we use to mitigate climate change. And we have to take care of all the water that is polluted with gas, oil and coal. And that's why the earth is getting warmer. That's what we have to do to make sure that the water is not polluted. We have to do everything we can to prepare and repair for the negative consequences of climate change. We all know that. For example, we can ensure that we protect all that we plant. The wild life that is natural will allow us to overcome damage as cyclone and goblins. We must build a channel for the people to see what is needed. We must build a channel for the people to see what is needed. We must do everything we can to continue to provide climate change. We must find information about the government's adaptation plan and the measures that are needed to protect the Earth and its citizens. Thank you so much for staying with us. I'm Bushes Doxery and we've been speaking about disaster risk reduction area the international community commemorates this day in October, October the 13th to be precise, but we are looking at what we are doing at home, what we are doing in St. Lucia. And thus far, it's very impressive in terms of the information that has emanated from our guests today. The DBRP, the Disaster Vulnerability Reduction Project, is about St. Lucia's premier disaster risk production project. And it spans a wide gamut of initiatives. So I'm just going to ask you, Naomi, I know there are not so many initiatives that the Department of Infrastructure is implementing, but in terms of oversight, technical oversight, your department has a great foothold in all of this. So speak to us, tell us some of the initiatives that you are oversight for. Well, on the DBRP, the Department of Infrastructure overseeing numerous projects such as hospitals, schools, road infrastructure. But just to name a few of them, we have completed was the Dennery Infant School, and also the Dennery Access Road, which is leading to the Dennery Secondary School, as well as the reconstruction of the kernels covered. But also to come, the Miku Wellness Center, Souffre Hospital, we have the Dennery Poly Clinic under there as well. There are a number of other initiatives under that project. Great. So there you go. In terms of the DBRP, in terms of how five tentacles go, there are a number of initiatives in the DBRP, and I'm happy that you mentioned some. To you, Andrew, in as far as Nemo is concerned, how challenging is it in terms of informing people as to how to best prepare in the event of a disaster, how to prepare for and how to respond for? What are some of the challenges that Nemo encounters, and do you have the capacity as an institution to unfold your mandate? Interesting. What we require from our people is some behavioral change, and that is the challenge. To get people to understand the need for understanding that disasters can have tremendous tort on life and livelihoods, and to understand for people to understand what it takes for our organization to enable us to give us that whole. Naomi was talking about the critical infrastructure that is needed. We use schools as shelters. So you need to have schools that can withstand the new climatic realities. So our police stations, fire stations, those are critical infrastructure that's needed post a disaster event. So you want to make sure that those critical infrastructure are there. Persons will be needing them after the disaster, so we need to make sure that those critical infrastructure are there. The challenge remains having individual persons take responsibility for themselves. As we tell persons, your home should be your first shelter. So you have to build in such a way that your home is able to withstand some of those climatic events. We are there as an organization to assist, and if you're not able to have your home, of course a shelter will be open to accommodate you, but that takes effort and that is a challenge in itself. Because once a shelter is open, the government assumes responsibility for everything that goes in there. So we have to have security, you have to have medical, you have to have everything. So we want to make sure that you are able to take care of yourself. So the behavioral change that is required to enable people to take on that initial responsibility is what is our challenge. So where we go out and we do the training and we do the capacity building, we do the trills. But I'm not saying I've been in the organization for the last 14 years, but I have seen slowly, but surely, the changes and the improvement that is necessary. I think people, of course, they see what is happening in other countries and persons are taking heed. And I think this time around, we've seen a change in the people when you say the author is not given, please stay home, people heed that. So that is a good thing and that is a positive sign that people are taking responsibility, people are understanding the impact of those events and what it can do to their lives. So once we get that continuing and people start taking that responsibility, then all the local pieces that we are putting in place will fall into place and Senatorsha will become as disaster prepared as possible. We don't want to have a state where we build back better. In fact, we want to build better before and this is what we want to do. So instead of waiting for the disaster event to destroy the country, let's build better before. I like the way you put it, because why is the tagline, the slogan for the disaster, the vulnerability reduction project, is building back better? I don't understand and appreciate the concept of building better before. This is very fascinating. I'm also heartened by the fact that you have said that you can see tangible changes in the way people are behaving. And some of the simple things that people can do is in terms of garbage, ensuring that they don't litter or ensuring that they dispose of the garbage responsibly. Some of the other things that they can do is to ensure that gutterings as much as possible on top of the rooftops. And some of the things that they can do as well is to ensure that they have proper drains to ensure that this water goes out. So there are lots of little things that we can do and based on what you are saying apparently that we are doing it. Wasco, critical, water is life, every drop counts when it comes to water. More specifically in terms of the DVRP, what is happening as it pertains to Wasco? Well, for Wasco, the main initiative under the DVRP is the redevelopment of the millet intake. Many people don't know that, but the millet intake is a source of water for the north that compliments the John Compton Dam. And the millet intake was actually there in use before the John Compton Dam. And it's still a very significant source of water. The good thing about the millet intake too is that it is a gravity feed, meaning that at the height at which it is, we don't rely on pumping. So all of the water from the millet intake literally comes to the treatment plant that is via gravity, which means it reduces our electricity costs. So the more we can get out of the millet intake, the less pumping we do and the less we need to rely on the John Compton Dam. So it's complementary and it's a significant source of water. So we had damage to that intake on the tropical storm Thomas. And we've been, so it has compromised the yield at that intake. And so we're now working through the DVRP to design a new intake that will take into consideration all the risks relating to the climate change. And that will in the end give us a better intake that we are able to rely on to assist in the supply of water for the north. So the DVRP is contributing significantly in that regard. Just quickly, where are we with this? Well, at this point we're doing a feasibility study and detailed design. We're quite advanced. A lot of the preliminary work has been done. And within the next few months we should be completing that, which would allow us then to go out into the construction phase, which would likely take place next year. Okay, the construction phase would be, take about? We're still working on that. We're thinking it may be in the region of a year, maybe 18 months, but that is part and parcel of the work we're doing now to determine how much it's going to cost and how we're going to do it and how long it's going to take to construct. Okay, great. I know that we kind of ran out of time now. It has been very fascinating thus far. And just to say, as it pertains to disaster risk reduction, and more specifically the DVRP or the Disaster Vulnerability Reduction Project, there are projects that has to do with the rehabilitation of the George FL Charles Airport, the projects that has to do with rehabilitation of the human or international airport. There are also projects that has to do with the establishment of polyclinics and so on. So it is really, as I said, all embracing. So as we come to the end, I'd just like to tell you quickly Naomi in about 10 seconds in terms of your work at the department. Generally, how do you really see it benefiting the public? Tremendously, it's actually improving our climate resilience. We're building back better infrastructure that could resist category five or four hurricanes, which are so predominant now. So we want to make sure we are capable. We have the capacity to be able to resist such climate changes. Yeah, and you, George? I would also say that, of course, in the last 2010, the last decade, most of the big events have been flood events and so hydrometallurgical events. So we have to cater for those. I mean, there's a lot of flood events, so people have to understand those events cost, livelihoods cost lives, so you have to prepare. The building codes is another one that will help people to focus on what they build and how they build. We have to take in the economic losses in the agriculture sector, the fishery sector. All those people are impacted by those events. And as climate change takes hold and as I said, climate change is a reality, it's happening, we contribute least to it, but we'll be impacted by the most of it. And as somebody said, we are the first generation to feel the effects of climate change and the last generation to do something about it. Thank you very much. We've come to the end of our program and I'd like to say thank you for those of you listening. We've been talking about disaster risk reduction and we've indicated that disaster vulnerability reduction project is one of the premier disaster risk reduction initiatives in St. Lucia. Thank you for watching. Until the next time, I'm Shadoksevi. Have a great day.