Choiseul Provincial Emergency Operations Centre (PEOC) has successfully coordinated another round of community awareness carried out by their working sector committees.

The team supported by the Choiseul provincial government comprise of government officers; Police, Customs and Immigration and Health. Their talks emphasizes on COVID-19 regulations:

  • National border security
  • Border Trading
  • Information centre and communication during this COVID-19 operation.
  • Logging camp inspection and monitoring the practicality of Standard Operating Procedures (SOP’s)

This awareness compliments the first activities conducted by Health and Save the Children in the past 3 months.

Another round of awareness program has been drawn up for Livelihood, Protection and Education sector committees.

In the meantime, Choiseul has a new Provincial Disaster Officer (PDO), George Tego, who is now taking the lead in managing the emergency operations centre at Taro station.

Mr Tego was deployed this month by National Disaster Management Office (NDMO) to help the provincial sectors committees in their COVID-19 Preparedness and Response Plans (PRP).

He teams up with the working committees who conduct community awareness programs in the rural communities since last week.

Officer Tego has a vast experience in disaster operations with records of serving at Red Cross along with multi-sector support programs and being the former PDO of Temotu Province for the past four years.

PDO roles under the National Disaster Management Plan 2018 are as follows:

  • monitor and assess developing disaster/emergency situations and support the National Emergency Operation Centre with information
  • undertake the assessment of impacts at the local level through the PERT and the NEOC assessment process and contribute to NEOC reporting
  • undertake local planning, operational and logistics functions for disaster response to support and coordinate the provincial and local response to disaster events
  • promulgate public information to the village level for developing and during disaster events
  • Coordinate sector responses and national and external support through the Province into the village level.

Two sites has been identified and assessed for quarantine and isolation for Choiseul province; Taro Hospital and Sasamunga Hospital at the southern coast of the island.

Source: NDC