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June 28, 2007
Governor and
cabinet participate in exercise to gauge disaster response
Gov. John P. deJongh, Jr. and members of his Cabinet met at VITEMA
headquarters on St. Thomas Wednesday morning to define the role and
responsibilities that government departments and agencies will assume in
the event of a natural or man-made disaster in the territory. The
Executive level table-top exercise required Cabinet members to think
quickly in the face of a terrorist attack at the Crown Bay commercial
container port, in close proximity to a school and the electrical power
generating plant.
"Many times our decision-making is based on hurricanes, and this took us
out of the norm, as now we must think of a tsunami, an earthquake or
even a terrorist attack against the territory," deJongh said Wednesday.
The simulated emergency gave Cabinet members the opportunity to test
their skills and see how their respective agency would respond if faced
with a real emergency.
"We wanted to ensure that the cabinet members understood their roles if
faced with an emergency and provide them with a good overview of the
protocols that will be exercised," said Adjutant General Renaldo Rivera.
The all-hazard mitigation approach is designed to be exercised in the
face of any natural or man-made disaster against the Virgin Islands.
Director of Homeland Security Mel Vanterpool said no matter the
emergency, the response and recovery strategy will be the same. “It was
a very well done exercise with maximum participation by members of the
Emergency Management Council. I am convinced coming out of the exercise
that the agency heads understand their roles and responsibilities should
they be confronted with a disaster.”
deJongh said the exercise made clear to him that his cabinet is on the
right track in terms of disaster preparedness which often times is the
best means of protection. "The department heads have given thought to
how they will respond, where they will go, how they will interact with
each other. We also used the exercise to play out how we will react on
St. Croix and St. John if the disaster is based on St. Thomas and how
will the response and recovery be staged if the disaster is on one of
the other islands."
The Emergency Management Council is chaired by the Governor and led by
The Adjutant General, Director of VITEMA and the Homeland Security
Director. The council includes all commissioners, directors and agency
heads. |
