Hurricane loans for Tobagonians

In addition, persons are being offered “hurricane loans” and other assistance from financial institutions to prepare themselves for the season which ends in November.

NEMA Tobago Coordinator, Owen Sandy, told Newsday that the agency is better resourced this year than it had been last year. He said NEMA was able to upgrade its systems and physical infrastructures, repair its disaster management shelters, improve its stalls inventory and train 30 additional staff members under the Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) programme.

Those persons will be deployed to high risk areas on the island during the hurricane season. These areas have been identified as the northeastern and eastern areas, based on last year’s report and a risk assessment conducted with respect to landslide susceptibility. NEMA personnel will be stationed in Moriah in the northeast and Speyside in the east, with medical supplies to provide immediate responses whenever necessary during the hurricane season.

The teams will also work along with the community shelter management teams. Sandy said the agency is currently deciding on a system to be enforced should villages be “cut off” from the rest of the island as in the November 2004 season. However, he declined to divulge any additional information on the issue.

In May this year, NEMA embarked on a public education campaign on hurricane and disaster preparedness and has teamed up with several financial institutions which are offering “Hurricane Preparedness Loans.” Insurance companies, supermarkets and general supply stores are also offering their services to persons who wish to improve their homes for the season. Sandy said from the response, it is evident that the public has begun to pay more attention to safety and is hopefully becoming more responsible with respect to putting the loans toward their intended purposes.

“We can’t police people. You have to educate your public and then provide this as an avenue, hoping that people are mature enough to exercise good judgment based on past experiences that we have had dealing with hazards. We don’t expect people to go to the banks and use this facility to buy a car. That is just being purely irresponsible,” Sandy said.

He said he hoped the campaign would have prompted homeowners to improve the quality of their housing stock and to realise the importance of “using the insurance mechanism to safeguard their properties.”

Sandy said poorly constructed houses have been one of the biggest problems in Tobago, and urged persons who are rebuilding to adhere to modern construction techniques.

After the last hurricane season, the THA allotted several million dollars toward compensation for fishermen and farmers as well as assisted hurricane victims in rebuilding their homes. Some of them received construction material, while the THA facilitated the relocation of approximately 32 families who fell victim to the severe weather conditions in November 2004.

Recently, twenty of those victims were issued plots of lands and grants of an undisclosed sum of money. Newsday however learnt they are still awaiting their deeds and access to the funds.

Newsday spoke to several recipients who wished not to be identified. They expressed disappointment at not being able to begin moving forward with their lives after waiting almost two years.

“We were so happy when we were given our lands in May after waiting so long, but whatever the problem is, we still have to wait a little longer to start to actually build. It is really frustrating that we can’t start to rebuild our lives and still have to live by other people after almost two years,” said one victim.

Efforts to get an update on the issue from Chief Secretary Orville London were unsuccessful.

Sandy advised the public that the responsibility of ensuring the safety and security of their homes rested with them.

“It is not the responsibility of NEMA, the THA or any other organisation for that matter to ensure your safety. That responsibility rests with you. People need to understand that the climate is not changing for the better and that the hurricane belt is widening. We in Tobago are at a greater risk now. We have to take the issue of disaster preparedness seriously to ensure that we deal with it effectively,” Sandy said.