Responses to disasters, either natural or man made should be better coordinated through Fiji’s first ever National Response Strategy.
A cabinet sub-committee that comprise the Minister for Defence, Minister for Works, Transport and Public Utilities and the Attorney General will sit during the first quarter of 2011 to consider a draft policy on the NRS before Cabinet endorses it.
The NRS was tabled in Cabinet on August 16, 2010.
Acting Minister for Defence Joketani Cokanasiga said he was waiting for meeting details to be finalised.
“Generally with the NRS we will have some kind of national cover to meet demands related to defence and security,” he said.
“Through NRS we lay down precise plans of action, otherwise there will be a lot of ineffective use of resources and confusion as to how to response during disasters.”
Ministry of Defense deputy secretary Makereta Lasike explained the NRS would be a guide on how the nation conducted all-hazard responses.
“It is to be built upon scalable, flexible, and adaptable coordinating structures to align key roles and responsibilities of agencies across the Nation,” she said.
“It describes specific authorities and best practices for managing incidents that range from the serious but purely local, to large-scale terrorist attacks or catastrophic complex manmade disasters.”
The comprehensive response of the NRS allows for:
- Risk management
- Building a culture of preparedness
- Develops a comprehensive Security Management System
- Improving incident management
- Better utilisation of response resources
This will mitigate effects of disasters.
“It is important to note that hazards defined herein encompass catastrophic incident mainly complex natural or manmade incidents, including terrorism, that results in extraordinary levels of mass casualties, damage, or disruption severely affecting the population, infrastructure, environment, economy, national morale, and/or government functions,” Ms Lasike said.
-End-