CONSTRUCTION of the country’s first Regional Disaster Management Centre in Lethem in the Upper Takutu- Upper Essequibo is moving apace as foundation works have been completed at the site.

The facility, which is being built at a cost of $96M, will provide shelter for both men and women and will include a warehouse, training facility, conference room and office space. At the moment, the contractor, R. Kissoon Contracting Services, is working on the columns for the facility which is being built in the Commercial area of Lethem.
The sum allocated for the project is cited as the largest direct disaster response capacity investment by the government in the history of Guyana. Funding for the project was included in the 2019 national budget.

Early last month, Minister of State, Dawn Hastings-Williams, Director-General of the Ministry of the Presidency, Joseph Harmon and Director-General of the Civil Defence Commission (CDC), Lieutenant Colonel Kester Craig, turned the sod for the construction of the steel structure.

At the forum, Minister Hastings-Williams said similar centres will be opened in the Barima-Waini region, the Cuyuni-Mazaruni region and in the Potaro-Siparuni.
The mandate of the facility, when completed , would be to strengthen regional capacities for disaster preparedness and response; to reduce disasters and their impact through enhanced regional capacity and cooperation, and to boost disaster management capability for sustainable regional development.

Harmon said that since assuming office , President David Granger has made disaster preparedness a priority as he noted that the government has been able to increase the capacity of the CDC.

The Director-General noted that the facility was meant to be funded by an international agency, but after months of back and forth, the government took a decision to budget for it to lessen the adverse impact upon persons affected by emergencies.