PLANNING FOR DISASTERS

Trinidadians and Tobagonians, already stunned by Sunday’s horrific tsunami in which more than 60,000 persons were killed in Asia, including Sri Lanka, Indonesia and India, learnt on Tuesday that their country was not prepared to handle a major natural disaster. Prime Minister Patrick Manning, in sombre mood, following on a meeting of relevant Cabinet Ministers and heads of disaster preparedness agencies pointed out that after two worst case scenarios were presented it was noted that disaster preparedness plans were inadequate to handle them. The scenarios were a major earthquake off Trinidad’s East Coast which saw the release of crude oil and natural gas from the sea floor, and the other the eruption of a sub-sea volcano off Grenada triggering a tidal wave affecting North and East Trinidad and affecting all of Tobago.

But while Prime Minister Manning is determined that Trinidad and Tobago should not be caught wholly unprepared in the event of a major natural disaster, nonetheless, given the intensity of each of the worst case scenarios presented it is disturbing that there is not much at present that Trinidad and Tobago appears able to do to keep down loss of life and/or property. The Prime Minister is right, though, in insisting that strategies must be put in place. A critical ingredient to the success of any Government initiative with respect to planning for natural disasters and minimising possible losses, however, will have to be an understanding by the population of the need for it as well as citizen compliance. Government will have to continuously market the idea that it will be for the safety and well-being of the general public. In turn, while the emphasis should be on reaching out to adult audiences, a special target area should be that of students in secondary schools and those in senior classes of primary schools.

The resulting interaction of both audiences would mean that each receives the same message twice and from different perspectives. Although the Prime Minister did not touch on the question of mass evacuation in the event of a threatened massive hurricane, this, however, would present major problems both because of Trinidad and Tobago’s size and the fact that hurricanes in the area would tend to develop not too far from the twin island State. There would also be the question of availability of air and sea transport and the possibility that nearby countries, many of them small, could also be under threat. At a news conference yesterday following on the meeting, Mr Manning was clearly concerned that the events in Asia as well as the recent hurricanes which caused tremendous social and economic damage in the region suggested that “what we are seeing is a new period of natural disasters of great intensity.”

He has announced the setting up of a committee headed by Minister of National Security, Senator Martin Joseph, to review natural disasters and the country’s state of preparedness. The committee is to report back by January 31. The Prime Minister revealed that on a recent visit to the United States State Department he had been shown data which suggested that weather patterns were now “at the beginning of a ten-year cycle.” Meanwhile, because the change in weather patterns in the Caribbean had been clearly recognised as crucial, Trinidad and Tobago, Prime Minister Manning declared, was looking into increasing the strength of the Regiment’s Engineering Battalion to properly deal with natural disasters.

While we do not throw cold water (forgive the cliche) on Government’s plans for disaster preparedness to cope with, for example, a major undersea earthquake and/or a major hurricane, say of the intensity of Ivan, and await the report scheduled for January 31, we recognise that there are obstacles, such as the country’s physical size, that should be taken into account. If Mr Manning is dealing principally with the issue of disaster relief then that, as the Americans would say, is a different ball game. But even as Government looks to the firming up of its natural disaster preparedness, Mr Manning has indicated that the country would provide financial aid to the several countries which had been affected by Sunday’s devastating tsunami. While he did not elaborate, it is to be assumed that Government will be in contact with the governments of the various nations which have been adversely affected with a view to arriving at the quantum and the type of aid to be offered.