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Minister of Rural Development and Local Government Khadijah Ameen has warned that Trinidad and Tobago’s deeply rooted culture of disaster complacency is now putting lives at risk, urging citizens and state agencies to confront a “new normal” of unpredictable climate hazards threatening every community.
Speaking at a multi-agency forum hosted yesterday by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), the Office of Disaster Preparedness and Management (ODPM) and the Tobago Emergency Management Authority (TEMA) at the Hilton Trinidad, Ameen said the country can no longer rely on the long-held belief that “God is a Trini” as storms, floods and even rare tornadoes become increasingly common.
“Our people have become numb to disasters,” she told attendees, which included representatives from Japan, the United Nations, the Ministry of Homeland Security and the Ministry of Planning. “Every rainy season, they cook, lime and wait for the water to go down because they expect it. That cultural response is now a vulnerability, and we must address it.”
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