PHILIPSBURG--Prime Minister Silveria Jacobs held a meeting with National Disaster Coordinator Clive Richardson and all Emergency Support Function (ESF) stakeholders of the Emergency Operations Centre (EOC) last week to discuss the current state of affairs and address several concerns in regard to disaster management plans and tsunami evacuation plans.
In this meeting Jacobs was able to receive several updates on the status of the disaster management plans already in place from the various stakeholders, she said in a press release on Wednesday.
“The Department of Communication DComm, a department within the Ministry of General Affairs, has already established a relationship with the community councils, public education and has plans to produce content in order to educate the community concerning tsunami evacuations,” she said.
It was decided that the EOC will meet every month to strengthen the disaster strategy collectively. All ESF stakeholders will continue working on their tsunami evacuation plans and research will be carried out in the interim to better equip Government with the expertise needed on tsunamis.
The EOC will be meeting again in the coming weeks to receive updates on these developments, Jacobs said.
Jacobs also encourages the community of St. Maarten to download Government’s “Disaster Prep St. Maarten” app, which is available on the Google Play Store. She said, “The Disaster App has been designed to provide pertinent information on disaster preparedness, give regular updates and alerts on emergencies that are taking place on the island.”
