A group of 30 officials from the Punta Cana International Airport and the National Prevention, Mitigation and Response System participated in the third edition of the “Gets Airports Ready for Disasters” (GARD) workshop, organized by the DHL Group, in alliance with the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and in collaboration with the World Food Program (WFP).

The GARD Program is a global public-private partnership aimed at supporting airports in planning their role as logistics centers in the event of disasters such as floods, earthquakes, hurricanes and landslides, as well as integrating the airport’s role in national emergency plans.

The training, which lasts five days and is aimed at airport officials and authorities related to disaster management, aims to increase the capacity of the Punta Cana Airport to receive humanitarian aid in cases of emergencies and major disasters.

During the training, participants, with the help of 5 international DHL airport specialists, will assess the current capacity in the event of a disaster, and a corresponding plan will be formulated.

Gilberto Castro, director of the DHL Go Help Team for the Americas, recalled that the Dominican Republic is the pioneer country of the GARD Program at a global level, contributing to the design of the training methodology and the process of training coaches.

In 2014, UNDP and DHL selected the Dominican Republic to train technicians at the Las Américas International Airport (SDQ), supporting its disaster preparedness. In 2015, it was replicated at the Cibao airport (STI), expanding the number of trained technicians and strengthening the National Prevention, Mitigation and Response System to extend the methodology to other airports.

Giovanni Rainieri, Director of Operations at the Punta Cana Airport (PUJ), referred to the importance of this activity to make his entity’s service more efficient in emergency situations; and that he joins the efforts that the airport management has been making since 1998, when it was heavily affected by Hurricane Georges.

Airports are a critical element of the humanitarian aid supply chain when a country is affected by an adverse event. In recent decades, the Dominican Republic has been affected by more than 30 hurricanes, which has generated a high humanitarian impact, with enormous human and economic losses.

Established in 2009, GARD aims to echo the demand for airport preparedness and response capacity of transportation hubs in the event of disasters.

The program, launched in more than 60 airports in 29 countries, includes training personnel in managing the influx of goods and people during calamities, assistance to area authorities in relief operations, and assessment of the current status of affected airports.

Source: Arecoa.com