NIA CHARLESTOWN NEVIS (December 20, 2019) — Mr. Brian Dyer, Director of the Nevis Disaster Management Department (NDMD), has given the government and people of Japan the assurance that all will be done to successfully deliver a project to improve disaster resilience on Nevis with the grant funding Japan will be providing for its implementation.

The NDMD Director gave the commitment at the signing ceremony for the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) and Contract Documents for the Japan Grant Aid Project for Improving Disaster Resilience in Nevis. It was held at the department’s conference room on Tuesday, December 17, 2019.

“I would like to take this opportunity to assure you that the Nevis Disaster Management will do whatever it can in order to provide a successful implementation of this project.

“Our dedication and commitment will enable us to develop even stronger relationships and friendships between the peoples of Japan and Nevis,” he said.

Mr. Dyer spoke of the areas the department had identified as risk areas around the island for which they had made significant steps in addressing, while speaking to the scope of the project.

“The department is the executing agency for “The Project for Improving Disaster Resilience in Nevis,” and recipient of the Embassy of Japan grant funding in the amount of USD $161,309.00.

“This project entails the reconstruction of bridge and access road near Charlestown, [Nevis] Sixth Form College and Nevis Girls Guides Headquarters in Stoney Grove; installation of aluminium shutters at Cotton Ground and Pond Hill Community Centres; installation of 1000 gallon water tanks at the Cotton Ground and Pond Hill Community Centres; erection of official plates at all project sites; and Financial Audit at the end of all project activities,” he said.

Mr. Dyer lauded the long standing relationship between the Government and People of Japan and the NIA. As a result the NDMD has benefited from several training programmes, equipment and grant donations for disaster supplies.

He noted that the MOU commits the parties involved to share an even closer working relationship for their common goal of building resilience on the island. He said the signing ceremony marks the completion of a sustained effort of collaboration among the staff of the Embassy of Japan, the Premier’s Ministry, the Ministry of Agriculture and the NDMD.

However, the director stated that building a resilient island cannot not be accomplished in the absence of supportive legislation in Disaster Risk Management, Volunteer and Volunteerism and Occupational Safety and Health, citing that Nevis must punch above its weight if it is to become the beacon in the Caribbean in championing the cause for resilience.

Mr. Dyer used the opportunity to express his gratitude to those who were instrumental in seeing the project through to its approval for grant funding.

“I would like to express my sincere gratitude to everyone whose dedication and efforts have contributed to the finalization and approval of this project. In particular, I would like to thank Ms. Crystal Austin, Consultant for the Grant Assistance for Grassroots Human Security Project (GGP), and her colleagues at the Embassy of Japan in Trinidad and Tobago. Their insights, goodwill and persistence have made the signing ceremony a reality.

“I am confident that NDMD has the experience and the expertise to execute this project on time and within the stated budget,” he said.

Among those present at the ceremony were His Excellency Tatsua Hirayama, Japan Ambassador to St. Kitts and Nevis; Hon. Mark Brantley, Premier of Nevis and St. Kitts and Nevis’ Minister of Foreign Affairs; and Hon. Alexis Jeffers, Deputy Premier of Nevis and Minister of Disaster Management. The ceremony was chaired by Ms. Rhosyll Jeffers, Assistant Secretary responsible for Disaster Management.