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matr1x wrote:Time to let them appoint a stooge
Ramroop is gone
...ODPM contract not renewed
Published on Apr 24, 2017, 2:04 pm AST
By Susan Mohammed
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Article
DR STEPHEN Ramroop is no longer Chief Executive Officer with the Office of Disaster Preparedness and Management.
His contract expired on April 1 and was not renewed by the Government.
Ramroop had held since 2011.
Ramroop told the Express on Monday that he had accepted Government's choice not to renew the contract.
“I would have liked to continue for a few years to finish off some of the programmes but I guess that is how it is. I accept their decision”, he said.
Ramroop said he expected Colonel Dave Williams, the deputy CEO and former head of National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), to replace him.
Ramroop said he left behind 46 programmes which he oversaw, and he hoped that they would continue.
He said there were also plans which he hoped would materialise.
“We wanted to build a disaster park, for countries like ours that are prone to earth quakes. They would consist of simulated rides, etc. People would get the feeling of an earthquake and experience the problems associated with it, and experience what it is to be in a shelter. That was one of the programmes I wanted to see through. We had an area designated in Mausica. We were hoping to get the private sector involved and develop this park the same way they did in Japan”, he said.
Ramroop said the while the agency was “not perfect”, evidence showed that the public understanding and perception of the ODPM had improved over the years.
“We did a survey in 2013, and repeated in 2015-2016. There was a Joint Select Committee of Parliament inquiry in 2011. That allowed us to benchmark how I met it and left it”, he said.
“It's not perfect; there's a lot of work to be done but we hope to improve it. I hope that we started will continue”.
Ramroop said his biggest challenge as CEO was the reduction in the ODPM's monetary budget.
“The biggest challenge I faced was the prioritisation of funding given the current financial situation. During an economic downturn, countries globally put funds in other areas rather than mitigation and preparedness. And that is dangerous because when a disaster does occur, you already have a financial situation you are dealing with. Any impact – whether hurricane, storm or landslide – will have a greater impact when it occurs. ODPM is an agency that allows some sort of insurance to the state in terms of disaster preparedness. Unfortunately because of the funding our budgets have been reviewed from about $50 - $60 million to $20 million. We have had serious cutbacks in staffing , quite a lot of challenges paying bills. We are owing quite a lot of people for work and hopefully we will get some more funds to cover these”, he said.
Ramroop said he had returned to his private practice as an orthopaedic surgeon, and was a consultant in Disaster Management, and Health Care Management.
zoom rader wrote:This Ramroop family is a long line of PNM supporters .
10-01 wrote:zoom rader wrote:This Ramroop family is a long line of PNM supporters .
supporters eating grass now .. ent dey vote for it .. take it in dey MC
zoom rader wrote:10-01 wrote:zoom rader wrote:This Ramroop family is a long line of PNM supporters .
supporters eating grass now .. ent dey vote for it .. take it in dey MC
Won't ever happen with these Ramroops they hard core PNM
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