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Sunday, October 29 2017

Japan eager tohelp with disastermanagement
By Barry Alleyne
In Tokyo, Japan
Japan stands ready to lend assistanceto CARICOM member states affectedby natural disasters, and would also bewilling to provide technical assistancein the development of disaster risk
management policies.
That word comes from Daisuke
Nakano, director of Latin American
and Caribbean Affairs at theMinistry of Foreign Affairs.
In a recent briefing here with reportersfrom Barbados, Jamaica and Grenada,
Nakano said Japan already had a good
relationship with Caribbean nations andrecent trips by delegations to Jamaica
and Trinidad and Tobago had put
bilateral wheels in motion.
Japan is considered the country mostsusceptible to earthquakes and tsunamis,
and Nakano said they were aware of just
how susceptible to natural disasters theCaribbean had been of late.
“Our doors are open,” he said. “Inmany ways we share the same interests.
We are an island affected by disasters,
and we know you are too,” he told
the regional journalists at his office indowntown Tokyo.
Because of its history with earthquakes
and tsunamis, Japan has spent the last
decade producing special technologythat detects the slightest movementof tectonic plates, special weather
forecasting systems, and a uniquecommunity-based disaster preparedness
programme, in which mutual assistanceby municipalities comes into playwithout initial assistance from
central government.
Catastrophic earthquakes in 2003
and 2011 have kept Japan on its toes,and every resident takes disaster
preparedness seriously.
“The government is seeking to help asmany countries in your area as possible.
The prime minister has an interest in
helping too,” Nakano added, reminding
journalists that Japan had quickly
dispatched aid to both Barbuda andDominica when those Caribbean
islands were affected last month by
Hurricanes Irma and Maria.
He said apart from being affected bynatural disasters, Caribbean countries
also shared human rights and bilateral
trade concerns, which meant they andJapan were on the same page regarding
many social issues.
But Nakano said Japan would pay
special interest in helping Caribbean
islands to make their countries safer
should Mother Nature act up.

“We can cooperate in many different
fields. Japan is seeking a bond with theCaribbean. We want to broaden anddeepen our relationship.”

Daisuke Nakano(Picture by Barry Alleyne.)

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The Association for Promotion of International Cooperation(APIC) and the Foreign Press Centre of Japan have cometogether once again to give regional journalists insight
into how the country goes about mitigating the effectsof natural disasters.
Japan, a country known in recent times for earthquakes andtsunamis, has spent hundreds of millions of dollars on special
technology and building methods to protect its citizenry. This
year APIC has invited six journalists from the Caribbean andPacific region to get a first-hand look at those methods.
Associate Editor Barry Alleyne is there representing
the NATION.

“We want to talk to theirgovernments, even though we don’t
have embassies in every country. That
is why we have dialogue with yourCARICOM. We want to hear what
are your concerns, which is why
we try to hold talks at least oncea year,” Nakano said.