WILLEMSTAD - At the invitation of Aruba's "Crisis Management Organization" (CMO), the National Crisis Coordinator of Curaçao, Mr. Lesley Fer, along with the Secretary of the Crisis and Disaster Organization of Curaçao (CRBo), Ms. Graciëla Statia, recently traveled to Aruba.
Mr. Fer and Ms. Statia are part of Curaçao's crisis team. The crisis team consists of, among others: the fire department commander, the police chief, the national crisis coordinator, the medical crisis coordinator, and the secretary of the "Crisis Management and Disaster Response Organization" (CRBo). The crisis team advises the Minister of General Affairs – who becomes the "supreme commander" during a crisis or disaster – on how to mitigate the effects of a crisis or disaster.
The recent working visit to Aruba by Curaçao's National Crisis Coordinator, Mr. Lesley Fer, and the Secretary of the Crisis and Disaster Organization of Curaçao (CRBo), Ms. Graciëla Statia, aimed to become acquainted with Aruba's disaster organization (CMO) and exchange knowledge. The primary goal was to continue working on the agreements between Curaçao and Aruba to provide mutual assistance before, during, and after a crisis or disaster that might affect either country.
Following Hurricane Irma in 2017, which severely impacted St. Maarten and left significant destruction, the Directorate of Risk Control and Disaster Management of Curaçao took the initiative and organized a high-level meeting in 2018 in Curaçao. This meeting aimed to evaluate the cooperation between the Kingdom countries during a disaster. Present at this high-level meeting were the Governors of St. Maarten and Curaçao, the Prime Ministers of Aruba, Curaçao, and St. Maarten, and representatives from Bonaire, Saba, and Statia. The consensus was that the Kingdom countries must work more closely together during crises or disasters.
During the latest edition of the "Week of Crisis Management" in Bonaire in December of last year, the national crisis coordinators from the different Kingdom countries reiterated the need to work together and the importance of formalizing this cooperation through an agreement. The focus of such an agreement is to enable Kingdom countries to assist and strengthen each other before, during, or after a crisis or disaster within the Kingdom.
Curaçao, along with Aruba and Bonaire, has taken the first steps toward formalizing the assistance to be provided in a crisis or disaster. The goal is to anchor these cooperation and assistance agreements in a "Memorandum of Understanding" (MOU) that will be signed by the authorities of Aruba, Bonaire, and Curaçao.