General
- Fiji is geographically situated in one of the most natural disaster prone areas in the world; because of that a lot of natural hazards occur in Fiji. Some hazards occur as a consequence of tropical depressions and cyclones or as part of tropical weather condition that normally affects the region. Hazards such as landslides, flash floods, storm surges are most common. The cyclone belt is where cyclones usually develop in the southern part of the Pacific. This is around the warmer waters closer to the equator at around 5 degrees and then die down when it reaches the colder waters around 25 degrees south of the Equator. The Fiji Islands happens to be located within this area; between 11 degrees and 21 degrees south of the Equator.
- Apart from that; Fiji is also within the Pacific Ring of Fire. The Pacific Ring of Fire is the zone of earthquakes and volcanoes that surrounds the Pacific Ocean. The zone covers almost all Pacific Rim island countries such as Japan, Chile the United States and nearby Tonga, Vanuatu and Papua New Guinea.
Earthquakes and volcanic actions occur mostly around areas where there are deep sea trenches and fault lines. Despite Fiji having only a few active volcanoes and fewer earthquakes compared to most of the areas mentioned, the risks it has from these two hazards are quiet high by world standards.
- The National Disaster Management Office (NDMO) was established as the coordinating centre of the Fiji Government in times of national disasters. The NDMO operates under the National Disaster Management Act and coordinates the national management of disaster activities through the Ministry of Provincial Development organisation structures at the National level, the Divisional level, the District or Provincial level and to the local and community levels. The NDMO manages disaster activities at these levels through Disaster Preparedness programs, Disaster Mitigation programs, Disaster Response program in times of natural disasters and Disaster Rehabilitation programs to restore normalcy after the adverse effect of a disaster hazard.
- With the recent Government restructure, the National Disaster Management Office together with the National Disaster Management Act was moved/transferred from the Ministry of Provincial Development to the Ministry of Defence, National Security and Immigration. The move is aimed at strengthening the capacity of Government machineries to address and manage Disaster and Emergency activities in times of natural and emergency situations. In doing so, the elements that are paramount in effecting management during these times are the availability of effective and efficient communication to facilitate information flow, the readily available and basing of resources and the available of people with the right knowledge, skills and expertise to manage, coordinate and implement prior programmed disaster management activities.
