Prime Minister Keith Mitchell has retained full responsibility as Chairman of the National Emergency Relief Organisation (NERO). Just prior to the passage of Hurricane Ivan, Minister of Tourism, Civil Aviation, Culture and the Performing Arts Senator Brenda Hood had been delegated the responsibility for the functioning of NERO. However, with tourism currently being the main engine of growth for the economy, Minister Hood will need to focus her full attention in this area. The decision was announced this morning, when the Prime Minister held his monthly meeting with NERO’s Senior Management Team at his Office in the Ministerial Complex. Prime Minister Mitchell advised the team that the focus for moving forward with disaster management on the national level must be greater involvement of all communities in the process. “Ivan gave us an opportunity to modernise the Country’s preparedness operations and now, more so, in light of the prevailing circumstances in the Region and Asia, the human resource aspect will be strengthened,” the Prime Minister said. Prime Minister Mitchell further iterated that disaster management can only be effective if the village support system is in place, adding that there is an urgent need for a more broad-based approach to national disaster management. Prime Minister Mitchell was extremely concerned about the total breakdown of all national communication systems during the Hurricane and indicated that all efforts will be made to ensure that there is no future occurrence. NERO is in the process of drawing up a schedule for constituency meetings to organise the appointment of committees and sub committees. Ms. Lana McPhail retains the position of Deputy Chairman of NERO. Source: Office of the Prime Minister