Minister of Rural Development and Local Government Khadijah Ameen has confirmed ongoing efforts to develop the Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) training programme.
This initiative aims to enhance community preparedness during emergency situations and according to Minister Ameen, they have been working to improve responsiveness to local disasters and to promote a culture of proactive engagement across the country.
The Minister reiterated that following Tuesday’s tornado in Westmoorings, they have activated several emergency response teams to assist affected residents.
“I also, as Minister, pulled resources from the San Juan/Laventille and Port of Spain Corporations so that we could have enough boots on the ground, as they say, and they, the field officers, went to every house to do an assessment as to the level of damage and the number of persons affected, and there were 16 houses damaged in that incident.”
Minister Ameen said her Ministry will continue to coordinate and work with partnering agencies, including the Trinidad and Tobago Defence Force, the Trinidad and Tobago Fire Service, and Public Utilities.
“Up to very late last night I was in touch with the T&TEC team, the General Manager was on site, the engineers, what they did was essentially restore electricity to the main so that the wider area like Morne Coco Road and so on, could get electricity.”