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4th ICG Session concludes in Martinique

Contact: NEMO

Friday, June 5, 2009 – (Fort de France , Martinique) – Significant progress has been made towards the establishment of a Caribbean Tsunami and other Coastal Hazards Early Warning Centre (CTWC) and that of a Caribbean Tsunami Information Centre(CTIC).

This was announced today at the conclusion of the 4th Session of the Intergovernmental Coordination Group for the Tsunami and other Coastal Hazards Warning System for the Caribbean and Adjacent Regions (ICG/CARIBE EWS-IV) in Fort de France, Martinique.

Chairman of the ICG, Dr Lorna Inniss of Barbados reiterated the body's commitment to the establishment of the CTWC by 2010 and acknowledged a phased approach offer by the USA to determining the feasibility of hosting the Centre in Puerto Rico.

Regarding the establishment of CTIC, she stated that Barbados had led the ICG member states in endorsing the establishment of the Centre and reiterated its commitment to entering into negotiations with the IOC on the initial tasks towards its successful launch in the region.

She further revealed that funds have already been identified under the United Nations Development Programme and within the IOC budget for the start up of the Centre.

Among other recommendations, during the meeting, member states agreed to utilise best practices on tsunami and other coastal hazards community preparedness and readiness in order to improve the resilience of their own vulnerable coastal communities.

It urged states to work to standardise national protocols and operating procedures to reduce response time and to inform the development of response protocols based on the results of the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Response Agency (CDERA) Tsunami and Coastal Hazards Warning System Project.

The Meeting also acknowledged the role of the Government of France and the Conseil General of Martinique in facilitating the hosting of the Meeting and the work that is presently being carried out as part of the development of methodologies that facilitate tsunami computer models for propagation and inundation modeling and forecasting.

Saint Lucia was represented at the 4th of the ICG/CARIBE EWS by the Director NEMO, Dawn French.

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