of the plaque and the launch of the International Disaster Reduction Day at the
Chris Hani Disaster Management Centre
12 October 2006
International Disaster Reduction Day
Director of Programme
Members of the Executive Councils
Members of the District Councils
Honoured guests
Ladies and gentlemen
Introduction
The opening of the Chris Hani Disaster Management Centre marks a successful
milestone in the Safety Management of our province. The devastation in the
latest floods in the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan Municipality indicates that it
is time our province has ready systems to respond quickly and in time to stop
or minimise the effects of any disaster that may befall us.
The effects of natural disasters
Natural disasters such as blowing off of roof tops of schools are rife and
as government we are demonstrating our commitment by ensuring the integration
of risk reduction into development plans and policies. The vision of building
disaster�resilient communities by reducing risk and vulnerability is shared by
a range of United Nations agencies and programmes, and has prompted the
development of new initiatives within the respective agendas.
This year's theme, "Disaster Risk Reduction Begins at school" is an
indication that we need to start teaching our learners the skills, such as
knowing the emergency numbers and carrying their ICE (in case of emergency)
numbers, on how to respond to disasters.
I would like to thank the following for the success of this project:
* the national Deputy Minister of Provincial and Local Government for her
informative speech and her presence
* the National Disaster Management Centre which falls under Department of
Provincial and Local Government
* people from other provinces, we know Free State is already here
* people from the Swedish Government who assisted with the Information
Communication System in the Centre
* Mr Owor from United Nations, International Strategy on Disaster
Reduction.
I thank you.
Issued by: Eastern Cape Provincial Government
12 October 2006
Source: Eastern Cape Provincial Government (http://www.ecprov.gov.za)
