Airport staff, gov’t agencies undergo disaster workshop

CEBU, Philippines - The three-day Get Airports Ready for Disaster workshop formally started yesterday at the Mactan-Cebu International Airport whose primary purpose is to prepare airport employees and other law enforcement agencies during disasters.

A mix of staff from airport operations, air traffic control, security and relevant disaster management agencies that play vital roles in the aftermath of natural disasters joined the first day of the workshop.

The three-day activity prepares airport personnel for the logistics of emergencies, including handling high volumes of incoming goods and passengers during disasters. It is held in cooperation with United Nations Development Programme, Deutsche Post DHL and the MCIA Authority.

MCIAA General Manager Nigel Paul Villarete admitted they encountered logistics challenges after super typhoon Yolanda hit Cebu and other parts of the Visayas last year.

Villarete said the airport can accommodate 130 tons of goods everyday. Days after the monster typhoon, the number tripled everyday and on Nov. 16, 2013, they received more than 1,000 tons of relief goods from other countries.

The airport was used a center for all relief goods operations and donations from other countries because of its strategic location, said the top airport official.

With the workshop, Villarete hopes they will be able to better prepare in responding future disaster especially in accepting relief goods.

Maurice Dewulf, UNDP county director, said they are aware of the problems encountered by the authorities of MCIA and this prompted them to help to organize the workshop.

Dewulf cited the need to assist airport personnel and other agencies in addressing the same problems in the future, adding that poverty level in the Philippines increased after the super typhoon.

Stephen Ly, managing director of DHL Global Forwarding, said they got themselves involved with the program because they believe the need to prepare airports in disaster-prone areas to handle a related surge in people and goods.