[Photo: Supplied]

Villagers of Naqali in Naitasiri have acknowledged the Adventist Development Relief Agency Fiji for conducting a live emergency evacuation drill in their flood-prone village.

Headman Mosese Vosabeci says the drill, which is part of ADRA Fiji’s Evacuation Centre Management training, is a first of its kind to be held in Naqali.

Vosabeci says the villagers will put into practice what they have learnt to create awareness and improve preparedness and response capabilities of its people.

The village headman says Naqali is among eight communities in Fiji that will be assisted by the partnership between ADRA Fiji and the French government’s Department of Crisis Support Centre.

[Photo: Supplied]

According to an ADRA Fiji statement, the target communities are being assisted as part of the “Building Disaster Resilience for People with Disabilities in the Pacific” project to prepare communities to operate inclusive evacuation centres.

Vosabeci says the training led to the formation of the village’s Community Disaster Committee, which is made up of youths, women and men who will spearhead the movements and evacuation during any disaster.