.jpeg)
The chief risk management officer, Daniel Cetoupe, made the
statement on Friday, after two days of emergency preparedness tabletop
exercises at the port and airport.
Following the operationalisation of Seychelles' National
Integrated Emergency Management plan, DRMD has identified a series of plans
that need to be relooked at. The priority is the port and the airport given the
economic importance they have for the country as the two entry points.
Cetoupe told SNA that they are re-looking at their plans to
make it a national one.
"The internal plans and procedures of these two places
are okay, but the problem lies in how responders connect with their
plans," he said.
DRMD in collaboration with the World Bank, supported the
Seychelles Ports Authority (SPA) and the Seychelles Civil Aviation Authority
(SCAA) with the review of the National Port and Airport Emergency Plan, which
took place from June 20-23. The partners involved undertook two days of
training and tabletop exercises.
The consultant from the World Bank in risk management,
disaster, and alert system, Darmen Ellayah, shared that the plan needs to be a
strong one as Seychelles is exposed to risks and has only one international
airport and port.
"As Seychelles is also far from other countries,
waiting for foreign assistance will take more time. As such, it is important
that all local partners become more resilient to deal with emergencies,"
said Ellayah.
On both days at the Silver Level, the port and the airport
had to deal with an artificial emergency scenario.
The aim of the exercises was to identify gaps and
limitations, as well as assess how the different partners understand and
undertake their roles and responsibilities under the emergency plan.
"We still have some challenges in the sense that people
see themselves as being more operational rather than making decisions. We have
a tendency during emergency to respond to an emergency, rather than manage
it," said Cetoupe.
He added that "we are looking at how they take
collective decisions and not the operation itself in response to the emergency.
They need to set their priorities, and objectives, and identify the resources
they need to manage all this, as well as how the flow of communication needs to
take place at the Silver Level to the Platinum Level. There is the need for
such exercises to be conducted more often so that the participants can better
work together."
Seychelles adopted the Integrated Emergency Management
System which has four levels of emergency management. At the Bronze Level, are
the first responders, at Silver Level there - are the command posts. The
National Emergency Operation Centre is at the Gold Level and at the Platinum
Level brings together ministers.