Dumaguete barangay officials trained on camp management

SMART Communications Inc. and the Corporate Network for Disaster Response (CNDR) have trained barangay Candau-ay officials and other stakeholders in Dumaguete City on camp management in a bid to help this flood-prone community become disaster-resilient.

The workshop on camp management was in line with Project Noah’s Ark.

The barangay was one of those hardest-hit by typhoon Sendong in 2011 with some 911 households displaced by the typhoon, including 67 families whose homes were totally washed out by the flood.

“The Noah’s Ark Project empowers flood-prone communities to be more disaster-resilient not only through lectures and trainings but also through drills and executions to ensure that when the next big disaster comes along, they have a fool-proof system in place, reducing the need for rescue operations and aiming for zero casualty,” said Smart Public Affairs head Ramon Isberto.

The workshop included evacuation management, relief management/protection management practice; water sanitation and health practices; transportation/logistics/data base management; security practice and food security practice.

“The training was not just for the barangay but for the entire Dumaguete,” said Candau-ay barangay captain Gregorio Oira.

He said the barangay is now working with CNDR for the upcoming flood warning and evacuation drill set next month.

“With the workshop, the roles, functions and responsibilities of each and everyone, especially the members of the City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (CDRRMC) have become a lot clearer and more defined,” said CNDR officer-in-charge Mabel Josephine Apostol.

Some 33 participants joined in the workshop representing the Barangay Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council of Candau-ay, and the CDRRMC, including the Department of Education, Department of Social Welfare and Development, Philippine National Police, and the city’s Health, Engineering and Agriculture units.