Suva to have more early warning sirens for disasters

Suva, Fiji. October 27, 2016 Suva will have close to five new Early Warning sirens for disasters by 2018.
This will be made possible through a new agreement signed between the Pacific Community (SPC), and the Deutsche Gesellschaft fur Internationale Zusammenarbeit GmbH (GIZ) at the Holiday Inn today.

GIZ has contributed FJD 461,148 to the European Union funded ACP-EU Building Safety and Resilience in the Pacific project (BSRP) implemented by the Pacific Community to expand its partnership with the EU and SPC in climate change action and disaster risk management in Fiji and the Pacific.

The signing of this agreement was held during the Programme’s Annual Regional Steering Committee Meeting, which is being attended by the 15 Pacific National Disaster Management Office (NDMO) and partners involved in the implementation of the BSRP project as part of a broader Pacific Resilience Week.

Currently, Fiji’s capital city has two sirens, which is located at the University of the South Pacific (USP) Marine Campus and the other in Lami.
Speaking at the signing ceremony, the Head of Infrastructure and Natural Resources Section at the EU Delegation for the Pacific, Jesús Laviña ”welcomes the EU-GIZ and SPC strengthened partnership, as partnerships are critical to build resilience to disasters in Fiji and the Pacific, the most vulnerable region in the world”.

Head of GIZ Pacific, Dr Wulf Killmann said the extensive damage and loss of lives by Category 5 Tropical Cyclone, Winston in February calls for the need of more early warning systems in Fiji. “These systems will help save lives and reduce the economic impacts of disasters,” he said.
Deputy Director General of the Pacific Community (SPC), Dr Audrey Aumua said the Pacific Community is happy to work together in this joint partnership to respond to Fiji’s request for additional tsunami early warning sirens to compliment the two systems already installed. It definitely would further strengthen Fijis capacity to address all hazards thereby protecting its people and assets from devastating consequences if an event strikes.

For more information contact: Josephine Prasad +679 9922098.

Background
The ACP-EU Building Safety and Resilience in the Pacific project (BSRP) is a €19.37million project funded by the European Union and implemented by the Pacific Community (SPC). The objective of the project is to reduce the vulnerability, as well as the social, economic and environmental costs of disasters caused by natural hazards, thereby achieving regional and national sustainable development and poverty alleviation in ACP Pacific Island States.