Is Fiji ready to deal with an approaching tsunami and do we have a coordinated approach in place to deal with how to disseminate tsunami warnings?
Plans are now in place to have fully functional tsunami warning sirens in various parts of the greater Suva area by the end of this year.
The current assessment for national disaster preparedness is clear that more tsunami warning systems are needed for people living along coastal areas in the country.
National Disaster Management Officer, Salote Sarasau confirms that there will be 5 new sirens in the Suva Municipal Area in addition to the two tsunami warning sirens located at lower USP campus and in Lami Town.
However the warning siren in Lami Town is currently undergoing scheduled maintenance and is expected to be fully functional by the end of next week.
This will allow for proposed monthly testing of the sirens to be carried out from September with the dates and times of the testing to be announced later.
When questioned by Fijivillage about the new tsunami warning sirens, NDMO Head of Logistics, Gary Frost said the proposed sites are Rifle Range Road, Naboro Waste Disposal Plant, Suva City Centre, Old Parliament House in Veiuto and Walu Bay.
We have also asked the NDMO about the plans for other coastal areas.
There is confirmation today that future plans have been put in place for Tsunami Warning Systems in other large population areas around Fiji.
This will be prioritized on population density with Nadi to be the next location for construction after Suva.
They will then put sirens in Lautoka and Labasa.
The NDMO has identified challenges with the warning systems that they hope to tackle during a 4 day training currently underway in Suva, such as providing warnings for remote islands that do not have access to mobile or radio signals as well as a warning system for the hearing and visually impaired.
Plans are also being formulated for blast message systems across all mobile service providers as well as Radio and TV warning systems in the three languages.
