NDRRMC to have new operations center

MANILA, Philippines - A state-of the-art building that will serve as the nerve center of the country’s disaster response efforts will soon rise in Camp Aguinaldo, officials said yesterday.

The new operations center of the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) will house facilities capable of seamless sharing of life-saving information, they said.

The government will not spend a single centavo in the project as the construction of the facility will be shouldered by SMS Global Technologies Inc., a company that specializes in information technology solutions and its partners.

SMS Global Technologies president Anthony Angeles said the project was conceptualized after the devastation of Typhoon Yolanda, which left more than 6,000 persons dead last year.

“We know the challenges the government is facing. What we want to do is highlight our competence as a company to be able to do such kind of project,” he told reporters during the center’s groundbreaking ceremony in Camp Aguinaldo.

Angeles said the cost of constructing the operations center has been estimated at around P250 million to P300 million. He said their industry partners have so far pledged P100 million for the project.

The construction of the operations center will start on Aug. 28 and is expected to be completed by April 20, 2015.

NDRRMC executive director Alexander Pama said the new operations center – which will use satellite communications for real-time video, voice and data transmission – will be a three-story building with an area of 600 square meters. It will contain working areas for member agencies, a monitoring area, a boardroom and a media center.