Hanover ready for any eventuality

Western Bureau:

Keniesha Stennett-Dunbar, the parish disaster coordinator for Hanover, says that based on the criteria outline on an instrument provided by the Ministry of Labour and Social Security, the western parish is 88 per cent ready going into the traditional rainy season.

"The main things that contributed to us being so highly rated is the continuous drain cleaning by the Municipal Corporation, the work that was done in the Riley River by the National Works Agency, and also the fact that the Fire Prevention Unit and the Municipal Corporation continue to do public education, so we are going into the communities and talking to the people. Sometimes arranged and sometimes unannounced we go and meet with community members and continue to provide them with educational material," said Stennett-Dunbar.

She pointed to the main setback as far as the ratings for the parish is concerned, as the fact that some of the selected shelter managers for its 56 emergency shelters across the parish are not yet trained, and that situation is being dealt with.

"In our public education, what we encourage people to do is to assist each other, because in an emergency sometimes the necessary assistance does not reach them readily so we encourage them to assist each other," said Stennett-Dunbar.

Stennett-Dunbar outlined that, even though there is some amount of inventory within the parish stores with regard to emergency supplies, her committee has also established relationships with businesses across the parish, for them to assist in case the need arises.

She further explained that, in case of an emergency, the emergency operating centre (EOC), which will be established in the meeting room of the Hanover Municipal Corporation, will be activated.