A Regional Emergency Shelter was commissioned today in Castle Bruce as the Dominican Government continues to create robust structures to combat the effects of climate change.

Since 2017, Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit has emphasized the importance of proactive, resilience planning and resource allocation, as well as systematically identifying community needs and providing the necessary training and interventions to boost disaster response capacity at the local community level. Head of delegation of the European Union to Barbados, The Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) and Caribbean Community (CARICOM) was present at the event.  

“The upgrades of climate-smart Health Centers and construction of new modern Health and Wellness Centers in several villages, the banning single-use plastics in 2019 by an Act of Parliament and the construction of hundreds of climate-resilient homes across Dominica, all speak to our determination to avoid the severe consequences of another hurricane on lives and livelihoods,” he said.  

In agriculture, he indicated that more than 67 million dollars are being invested to help farmers maintain productivity and climate proof their operations in livestock and crop farming, as well as to upgrade fisheries facilities to give fishers with secure locations for storing catch and equipment.

He said improvement of building construction codes is also being promoted with adherence to standards and designs which are climate resilient and environmentally friendly.  

“The recent approval of the building codes regulations by the cabinet signals our intent to enforce the roles across the board to ensure new and existing structures meet the most stringent standards for safety in keeping with our ‘build back better’ approach.” He noted that today is a significant day for the Dominicans because it brings back memories of the night of September 18, 2017, when Dominica was devastated by Hurricane Maria.

The PM said during that time, people committed to emerge from the chaos as a stronger, more resilient people motivated to develop our communities and country and enhance our responses to the looming risks related with climate change.

“In the immediate aftermath of the of the life-changing disaster, I as prime minister Dominica committed our small island nation to compelling vision of becoming the first climate resilient nation in the world by 2030.” 

He went on to say that many people, including Dominicans, have publicly expressed concerns about the country’s ability to activate this vision and improve systems in the face of climate change consequences, and he is glad to say that the country’s climate resilience vision has been much more than words.

“We have backed our statements with concrete action some of which you see manifesting today in Castle Bruce.” To strengthen disaster response capability, improvements are also being made to early warning systems, emergency communications capacity, and raising awareness among our diverse publics.
The Dominican Republic’s government formally adopted the National Emergency Telecommunication Plan last week, which would include standard operating procedures for Emergency and Disaster Response connected to communication.