THERE are plans to establish disaster preparedness stations in each municipal in Trinidad and Tobago, Port of Spain Mayor Murchison Brown says.

’We are presently in discussion with the Office of Disaster Preparedness and Management (ODPM),’ Brown said yesterday, as he spoke to more than 50 young people from Asia, South America, Europe and Trinidad and Tobago at the opening ceremony of the fourth Natural Disaster Youth Summit at the Chaguaramas Hotel and Convention Centre.

Brown told the participants that they had a critical role to play when it comes to disaster preparedness, because climate change was having an effect on everyone.

’This conference is instructive at this time,’ he said.

Gia Gaspard-Taylor, national coordinator of the International Education and Resource Network (IEARN) Trinidad and Tobago, host of the summit, told the students that community assessment vulnerability exercises had already been started.

’What they are looking at is the vulnerability, hazards, strengths and resources within the communities, to be able to identify what is available if help is unable to come from the ODPM on time.’

Over the next two days, students from the local secondary schools, as well as Argentina, Turkey, Suriname, Sweden and Japan, will present findings from their research on global warming, climate change and coastal erosion, as well as measures that can be used to reduce the impact of natural disasters.

The UNICEF, National Commission for UNESCO, UNESCO and National Disasters Youth Summit NDYS committee are also partners in the hosting of the youth summit.