OFFICE OF DISASTER PREPAREDNESS AND EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT
TO: ALL MEDIA HOUSES
FROM: Kimberley Weller, Information Officer
DEPT: Information and Training
PHONE: (876) 906 9674-5 / 754 9077-8 FAX: (876) 754 3229
WEBSITE: www.odpem.org.jm
For Immediate Release
Press Release # 1
Issued on: Friday January 13, 2012 at 11:40 a.m.
The Office of Disaster Preparedness & Emergency Management (ODPEM) will spearhead a national Earthquake and Tsunami Simulation Exercise. The exercise dubbed National Simulation Exercise 2012 (NaSIMEX 2012) will take place on February 15 and 16, 2012 within the parishes of Kingston and St. Andrew and St. Catherine.
The Director General of the ODPEM, Mr. Ronald Jackson informed members of the media that the ODPEM in collaboration with a number of its partner agencies will be conducting this national exercise in an effort to enhance national earthquake readiness and assess the level of inter-agency coordination for a major emergency response at the National and Parish Levels. He was speaking at a press conference held today, at the ODPEM headquarters to launch NaSIMEX 2012.
Mr. Jackson also added that prior to the major event a series of inter-related table top exercises will be conducted throughout the months of January and February and this will test responses for: the Continuance of Governance, Fire, Transport, Tourism and Education. The exercise will also examine the requirements for water, security and evacuation.
The total cost of NaSIMEX 2012 is approximately JMD$ 4.5 million and this is being funded by the Caribbean Disaster & Emergency Management Agency (CDEMA).
The full scale component of the exercise is designed to be carried out in a relatively intense and rigorous setting and the format adopted for the exercise provides for a level of exercising that will result in the deployment of some critical state and parish resources. It will be a practical display of what are the possible national and parish responses given the existing plans and the resources available nationally and in the various parishes.