The head of the Office of Disaster Preparedness and Management (ODPM) is seeking to refute claims that there is too much red tape involved in mobilising aid for flood affected areas.
The claim was made by Penal/Debe Regional Corporation Chairman, Dr Allan Sammy, but his statements are puzzling the ODPM head.
According to Major General (Ret) Rodney Smart, resources were immediately made ready for the Corporation and he's now wondering if Dr Sammy understands how the ODPM functions in such cases.
Mr Smart re-stated that the regional corporation's Disaster Management Unit is the first responder in any emergency, and the ODPM is only called on if the situation becomes overwhelming for the regional corporation.
“The protocol is that those Disaster Management Units (DMUs) would be allowed to do what they’re trained to do,” he told us.
That means the ODPM is only called upon if the situation becomes overwhelming for the regional corporation.
“The DMU told us they have the capability,” the ODPM CEO reports. “They said ‘we don’t need you to take over unless we ask you to or unless we invite you to’.”
So when Dr Allen Sammy, chairman of the Penal Debe Regional Corporation said there's too much red tape involved in the process—which negatively impacts their desire for expediency—the ODPM's CEO is perplexed, because he said the only call for help came last Sunday.
“A call came; a call was made; troops moved,” he reports. “Now his point is that he asked for resources, but no request for resources came to the ODPM until Sunday. That was when we first heard about a need for resources.”
And Mr Smart said the resources were made available to them, immediately.
The ODPM head said he even had a cordial meeting with the Penal Debe Chairman on Sunday where the protocol was explained.
“I thought he understood. He gave me the impression he understood,” Rodney Smart says. “But, I will reach out to him again.”
The ODPM chief says the way the community itself responded to the disaster was exactly the way things should have happened, with the DMU doing its job as effectively as it could, circumstances permitting, and neighbours coming together to assist each other in that time of crisis.