MAURITIUS: EARLY WARNING SYSTEMS FOR NATURAL DISASTERS ON AGENDA OF SMALL ISLANDS CONFERENCE.
Record ID:
208425
MAURITIUS: EARLY WARNING SYSTEMS FOR NATURAL DISASTERS ON AGENDA OF SMALL ISLANDS CONFERENCE.
- Title: MAURITIUS: EARLY WARNING SYSTEMS FOR NATURAL DISASTERS ON AGENDA OF SMALL ISLANDS CONFERENCE.
- Date: 11th January 2005
- Summary: (W5) PORT LOUIS, MAURITIUS (JANUARY 11, 2005) (REUTERS) 1. LV/GV: SWAMI VIVEKANANDA INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE CENTRE HOSTING SMALL ISLANDS DEVELOPING STATES (SIDS) CONFERENCE; EXTERIOR OF CONFERENCE CENTRE; DELEGATES ARRIVING (4 SHOTS) 0.23 2. (SOUNDBITE) (English) KIRSTI LINTONEN, FINNISH AMBASSADOR TO SOUTH AFRICA AND MAURITIUS, HEAD OF FINNISH DELEGATION TO CONFERENCE, SAYING: "I think it's a very important timing now just after this Asian catastrophe - the tsunami. We are very, very happy you know that the SIDS are working with their own problems - of course the SIDS is part of the multi-lateral system. But it's very topical you know, that they can handle their own issues. We of course would like to see that SIDS is not only working with ecological issues but they see you know, and especially after this catastrophe, they see it also as an economical and also the social issues. We also find that it's very important that you know human beings are part of the SIDS process so the civil society should play an important role in the process." 1.21 3. GV: UNITED NATIONS FLAG WITH SIDS NATIONS' FLAGS IN BACKGROUND 1.26 4. MV: JOHN TURNER, U.S. ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF STATE FOR OCEANS AND INTERNATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL AND SCIENTIFIC AFFAIRS (OES) AND LAURA KONG, DIRECTOR OF THE INTERNATIONAL TSUNAMI INFORMATION CENTRE ARRIVING AT CONFERENCE 1.32 5. (SOUNDBITE) (English) JOHN TURNER, U.S ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF STATE FOR OCEANS AND INTERNATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL AND SCIENTIFIC AFFAIRS (OES) SAYING: "We have to look at what nations have to do because they're going to have to implement warning systems, risk assessment, ways to make their publics aware in how to respond, so it will be a long term effort and looking beyond the Indian Ocean we need to look at the Caribbean, the Mediterranean, other parts of the Atlantic so this is an opportunity for, not only to look at the risk and early warning needs of earthquake and seismic events but also cyclones, hurricanes, things that put the small islands, coastal communities especially at risk." 2.13 6. GV: ASIAN TSUNAMI EVENT NEWS CONFERENCE 2.19 7. (SOUNDBITE)(English) MICHEL JARRAUD, SECRETARY-GENERAL OF THE WORLD METEOROLOGICAL ORGANISATION, SAYING: "What is required for disaster is that you need people to be on a twenty-four hour watch, three-hundred and sixty-five days a year, to have in place the right communication with the authorities - the people who can make decision and to have ways to warn the public. It's a whole sequence, it's a whole chain of things and these things is tested for many other disasters such as tropical cyclone." 2.42 8. MV: MEDIA 2.45 9. (SOUNDBITE) (English) WALTER ERDELEN, ASSISTANT DIRECTOR-GENERAL FOR NATURAL SCIENCES, UNITED NATIONS EDUCATIONAL, SCIENTIFIC AND CULTURAL ORGANISATION, SAYING: "We need possibly to broaden our approach and look into geo-hazards, natural disasters as a whole and get from a reactive mode into a pro-active mode. If you for instance calculate the losses, the costs involved in terms of having faced the disaster, this is very costly and if you had preventive measures in place and on time, you would have not only saved many lives but you would have also saved a lot of money that now feeds into this recovery and reconstruction process." 3.19 10. LV: FLAGS 3.25 Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
- Embargoed: 26th January 2005 12:00
- Keywords:
- Location: PORT LOUIS, MAURITIUS
- Country: Mauritius
- Reuters ID: LVAEA8D2KAB693F1TMVK5R02DJHH
- Story Text: Early warning sysytems for natural disasters on
agenda of Small Islands conference.
As the second day of the Small Islands Developing
States (SIDS) conference got underway on Tuesday (January
11, 2005), delegates were still focusing on the recent tsunami
disaster. The Indian Ocean tsunami has pushed disaster
early warning to the top of the agenda at a meeting of the
world's small islands, potentially crowding out concerns
about climate change and trade, some delegates say.
The U.N. conference of 37 island countries, to be
attended by U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan and donor
nation diplomats, continued to discuss island challenges
bred by geographical isolation, limited resources and
exposure to the violent whims of nature.
But the Dec. 26 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami,
which killed 150,000, has given the meeting in Mauritius a
new urgency and focus on island vulnerability to natural
disaster.
"I think it's a very important timing now just after
this Asian catastrophe - the tsunami. We are very, very
happy you know that the SIDS are working with their own
problems - of course the SIDS is part of the multi-lateral
system. But it's very topical you know, that they can
handle their own issues. We of course would like to see
that SIDS is not only working with ecological issues but
they see you know, and especially after this catastrophe,
they see it also as an economical and also the social
issues," said Kirsti Lintonen, head of the Finnish
delegation.
Dominating the morning's meetings was talks and
negotiations on creating a global early warning system to
protect islands from natural disasters. Its absence was
believed to have contributed to thousands of preventable
deaths across the coastlines of the Indian Ocean.
"We have to look at what nations have to do because
they're going to have to implement warning systems, risk
assessment, ways to make their publics aware in how to
respond, so it will be a long term effort and looking
beyond the Indian Ocean we need to look at the Caribbean,
the Mediterranean, other parts of the Atlantic so this is
an opportunity for, not only to look at the risk and early
warning needs of earthquake and seismic events but also
cyclones, hurricanes, things that put the small islands,
coastal communities especially at risk," said Head of the
American delegation, John Turner.
The World Meterological Organisation and International
Tsunami Information Centre confirmed that they were working
together on a global system, but it was as yet too early to
put a price on its cost.
"What is required for disaster is that you need people
to be on a twenty-four hour watch, three-hundred and
sixty-five days a year, to have in place the right
communication
with the authorities - the people who can make decision and
to have ways to warn the public. It's a whole sequence,
it's a whole chain of things and these things is tested for
many other disasters such as tropical cyclone," said Michel
Jarraud, Secretary-General of the World Meterological
Organization.
When it comes to the cost of such a system, the
billions now being spent on Indian Ocean states as they try
to recover from December's tsunami, is to an extent,
keeping monetary concerns in perspective.
"We need possibly to broaden our approach and look into
geo-hazards, natural disasters as a whole and get from a
reactive mode into a pro-active mode. If you for instance
calculate the losses, the costs involved in terms of having
faced the disaster, this is very costly and if you had
preventive measures in place and on time, you would have
not only saved many lives, but you would have also saved a
lot of money that now feeds into this recovery and
reconstruction process," said UNESCO spokesman Walter
Erdelen.
The meeting also plans to discuss trade and ways to
promote tourism.
The end of global trade quotas has opened fragile and
traditionally undiversified island economies to competition
from powerhouses like India and China, and some islands'
existence is threatened by rising sea levels.
The international community has traditionally resisted
island calls for continued trade preferences and some rich nations
have fought any suggestion their fossil-fuel
emissions contribute to global warming and rising seas.
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