Praneeta Prakash 
[File Photo]
The National Disaster Management Office is intensifying its collaboration with municipalities, particularly those vulnerable to flooding, to create comprehensive disaster risk management plans.
This initiative is driven by the recently revised National Disaster Management Office Act.
Under this new legislation, Municipal Councils are now mandated to formulate their own localized disaster risk management strategies.
National Disaster Management Office Acting Director Napolioni Boseiwaqa says the newly revised Act empowers local authorities to tackle natural hazards, like flooding, with a more structured and proactive approach.
“So part of the new requirements under the revised Act is for the establishment of the Municipality Emergency Operations Centers and also for Municipal Disaster Risk Management plans as well . So it is something that we are currently working with Municipal Councils, particularly in those municipalities that have issues with natural hazards such as flooding.”
The Acting Director says that as part of the initiative, local authorities are being encouraged to submit project proposals to receive assistance in formulating these plans.
“We just endorsed the Western Division Disaster Risk Reduction plan through the assistance of JICA and in that we also developed municipality-specific DRR plans that has been done for Nadi and Ba. So we are now moving to the rest of the municipalities as well.”
Boseiwaqa adds that a notable development is the creation of the Disaster Risk Management Fund, which enables the NDMO to provide financial support for disaster risk reduction activities before a disaster occurs.
Stream the best of Fiji on VITI+. Anytime. Anywhere.
