Minister for Disaster Management & Meteorological Services Jone Usamate [left] while officiating at the Stakeholders Meeting on School Disaster Risk Reduction & Resilience Building in Suva. [Source: Twitter]

Fiji should expect and be prepared for more frequent and intense disaster events similar to TC Winston.

This was highlighted by the Minister for Disaster Management & Meteorological Services Jone Usamate while officiating at the Stakeholders Meeting on School Disaster Risk Reduction & Resilience Building in Suva.

Usamate says disaster is everybody’s business and everyone has an important role to play.

Officiated at the Workshop on School Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) this morning which aims to review the Education Ministry’s DRR handbook. This handbook provides the Standard Operation Procedure (SOP) for ensuring the safety of our school children during disaster event. pic.twitter.com/XBnXiWJJQO

— Jone Usamate (@JoneUsamate) March 19, 2019

He says the purpose of the workshop is to review the Ministry of Education’s Disaster Risk Reduction handbook.

Usamate adds the disaster risk reduction manual or handbook will assist school administrators, management, teachers and communities, with information needed to reduce risk and make schools safer.

The Minister says this is an important document as it provides the standard operating procedure (SOP) for ensuring the safety of school children during disaster events.

The workshop was attended by senior government officials, education officials, and Non-governmental organizations.