Blue Economy Holds 1st Hurricane Preparedness Forum

The various city, town and village councils have held their hurricane preparedness training sessions and meetings for the 2024 Atlantic Hurricane Season. Today, the Ministry of Blue Economy held its first ever such forum and it had in attendance a host of government departments and units. News Five stopped in at the event in Belmopan and spoke with C.E.O. in the Ministry of Disaster Risk Management, Kennedy Carrillo, and NEMO Coordinator, Daniel Mendez. They said people have to change their mentality that NEMO is just an organization; instead, they say we all have a role to play in NEMO.

 

Kennedy Carrillo, C.E.O., Min. of Blue Economy

“The National Emergency Management Organization and Disaster Risk Management Ministry overall is now under the responsibility of a new minister, a new C.E.O., and obviously our approach to the response at a national level will come with innovation and it will come with greater inclusion. These are some of the areas that we have already assessed as areas that can be strengthened. And so as a ministry, we had very quickly and very fast the opportunity to assess how prepared are we to respond to disasters just three weeks into assuming responsibility for the ministry because of the unprecedented and forest fires and so it was baptism literally by fire, but it gave us the opportunity to assess and to look at where the weaknesses are, and one of them is engagement, at a national level, engagement of the key partners that play an important role in emergency response.”

 

Daniel Mendez, Coordinator, NEMO

“We’re discussing many different issues that are important to the whole disaster management function. This is where we’re trying to steer NEMO. So we’re moving away from the being name of being the response only organization to one that really focuses on all aspects of the disaster management cycle, including recovery. And these are issues that we haven’t really been speaking about. So the forum today really gives us that ability to reach out and to spend more time talking about these. What we will do for NEMO as C.E.O. Kennedy has said, is really to strengthen the system, the NEMO system, which is important. NEMO is not just the organization that you see on the ground with the people in NEMO uniforms, but actually all of government, everyone is part of NEMO during a disaster.”