23th October,2018 Representatives selected from Pacific Island countries are in Tonga to attend the third coordinated meeting of the Pacific Resilience Programme (or PREP) which is held at Tanoa Dateline Hotel from the 23rd – 24th October, 2018.
PREP is a World Bank funded project to assist Tonga, Samoa, Republic of the Marshall Island (RMI), Vanuatu and also Fiji, to assist them in strengthening their resilience against the impact of natural disasters.
This third coordinated meeting is to share status of implement and challenges facing by these countries under the PREP project.
The CEO for MEIDECC Mr. Paula Pouvalu Ma’u opened the meeting this morning.
He stated that the meeting is timely given the devastation brought by TC Gita to Tongatapu and ‘Eua in February this year, in which we can share real time experience of what exactly PREP was set up for.
“During these most difficult times, the threats, the life–saving moments, the response, and of course, the resiliency of our people. Indeed, these are the similar stories we have all experienced in our island year after year.”
He said that PREP has drawn relevant stakeholders for a common purpose which defines the future of countries and people in the Pacific.
Mr. Ma’u said that the World Bank led Rapid Disaster Assessment reported that the damages caused by TC Gita were close to US$164 million which was equivalent to approximately 38% of the country’s GDP. And the response were “swift and everyone lend a hand.”
“Development partners extended much needed monetary and in-kind support. Within four working days, we have received pay out from the Pacific Catastrophe Risk Insurance of US$3.5 million and triggered the Contingency Emergency Response Component of PREP (CERC), where we received US$0.5 million in a matter of days to help strengthen our resilient effort, which is exactly what PREP is advocating.”
About 40 participants attended the meeting, and it will be concluded tomorrow.
ENDS
Issued by the: Ministry of Meteorology, Energy, Information, Disaster Management, Environment, Climate Change and Communications