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NEGO conveys sympathy
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Posted on Dec 27 2004
The National Emergency Grants Office, under the Workforce Investment Agency, conveyed its sympathy to countries affected by the tsunami.
NEGO director Jesse P. Stein, reached for comment during the 1st CNMI SAT Preparatory Program held yesterday at the Multi-Purpose Center, said his office could relate to the tragedy.
He also said that it is good that affected countries have non-profit organizations, like the Red Cross, that can immediately respond and help with the disaster.
Closer to home, Stein noted that NEGO assists people displaced during declarations of disaster by applying a grant to immediately put people to work. He said they employ temporary workers for the removal of debris and they have to go out on the sites right away.
NEGO also has offices on Rota and Tinian. Temporary workers are hired under a six-month program for clean up. When the work is finished hopefully workers are placed for a possible long-term job in and out of the agency.
Stein added that, to an obviously lesser extent than what happened in countries that surround the Indian Ocean, the local community goes through a period of upheaval year after year during typhoon season. “Especially when there’s a really big storm where it totally shuts everything down, no power for two weeks, it’s not very good,” he added.
Though the Commonwealth gets warned about possible tsunamis, Stein believes that it is less likely to occur on the islands. “Here I don’t think we’ll ever have a tsunami because of our reef line. There are too many reefs out there that will stop the wave,” he said.
He went on to say that a disaster is a disaster whether it is a big or small one. “The outcome remains the same, a lot of people are displaced.” (Marconi Calindas)
