It�s hard to develop a strategy to address all disasters: Maya
The Minister for Disaster Management and Relief, Mufazzal Hossain Chowdhury Maya, said that it is hard to develop a strategy to address all types of disasters in the country, especially earthquakes. We have strengthened our institutional capacities and developed related strategies and action plans to face any disaster like earthquake if it occurs in Dhaka, he said at the closing ceremony of a five-day long exercise called Pacific Resilience (PR) Disaster Response Exercise and Exchange (DREE) held at the Golf Garden Restaurant in the capital. He added, The DREE will yield enough benefits to enhance our capacity to face and deal with earthquake within Dhaka city.
The DREE exercise that started on August 30 aimed at improving disaster preparedness, response capabilities and civilian-military coordination in the face of a large scale natural disaster. David Meale, Charge DAffairs of the US embassy, said, The DREE is most important because all of us are more prepared for a major earthquake in Dhaka city today than we were yesterday. This exercise will enhance our ability to understand each other, complement each others strengths and limitations and respond more effectively, he said. He also informed that humanitarian assistance and disaster response issues would be discussed at the upcoming Bangladesh-US security dialogue to be held in Washington on September 11. In his speech, Principal Staff Officer (PSO) of Armed Forces Division, Lieutenant General Md Mainul Islam, laid emphasis on conducting this type of exercise every year. At least 150 members of civil and military organisations, including six media people, participated in the exercise. The Pacific Resilience is USARPACs main platform for sharing the best practices and lessons learned across the HA/DR spectrum to enhance the capabilities of all parties to respond and recover from an emergency situation.
