Prime Minister To Launch New Preparedness and Emergency Response Corps

MAY 23, 2009

PM GOLDING TO LAUNCH NEW PREPAREDNESS AND

EMERGENCY RESPONSE CORPS-(PERC):

The Office of Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Management (ODPEM) has completed the training of one hundred cadets who will form part of the national emergency management volunteer team.  

The first batch of cadets called the Preparedness and Emergency Response Corps (PERC) will be presented to Prime Minister, Bruce Golding   when he launches the programme at a special function at the St Mary High school, in Highgate, St Mary, on Thursday, beginning at 10:00am.  

The presentation is part of an overall emergency response initiative, which is spearheaded and funded by the Jamaica Social Investment Fund-JSIF.  A brainchild of Prime Minister Bruce Golding, PERC is another of government's initiatives to engage young people in  activities that will enhance the development of their communities.  

The new cadets were drawn from the parishes of St Ann, St Mary, Portland and St Thomas, the parishes which have been most vulnerable to hurricanes and other disasters.