On the day she took office as Prime Minister Persad-Bissessar went out to flooded areas to find out the needs of the people and offer comfort and relief in their time of distress.
"I think we are better off than we were last year, most certainly but as I always say there's room for improvement...and we will continue to make those improvements in time," the Prime Minister said, at a news conference at the Diplomatic Centre.
"Certainly, we can attempt to improve our responses in dealing with what are natural disasters...it will take time and while we are taking that time to get the infrastructural works done it is very important that we are more prepared to deal with such emergencies when they arise," she said.
She said cabinet has approved additional funds to the Works and Transport Ministry to improve infrastructure throughout the country.
The Office of Disaster Preparedness and Management (ODPM) is under the chairmanship of Dr Stephen Ramroop.
Ramroop told reporters the coming hurricane season is expected to be a severe one with meteorologists predicting 18 major storms and at least six hurricanes.
Ramroop said Trinidad and Tobago must be prepared to face these potential risks. "We have to be very careful now because the evidence is showing that the risks of hurricane are coming lower and lower down South, closer to the South American continent."
He said there is a need for a faster response to situations such as the flooding of the Princess Elizabeth Home. And he promised that his office would put in place a national incident response team comprising the police, public health sector, disaster management unit, EHS, CEPEP, TENT, Red Cross and various Ministries.
Ramroop also said he would develop early warning systems to monitor rivers and put an evacuation plan in place.
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