The Department of Disaster Management (DDM) said in its annual report for 2013 that some of the disasters in the Virgin Islands are the result of severely faulty practices and mismanagement in land use. Photo: VINO/File

“The increasing intensity of such man-made disasters calls for more vigorous application of the environmental impact assessment practices and the enforcement of related regulations,” the report said. Image: Provided

This report was laid on the Table on September 11, 2014 during the commencement of the Ninth Sitting of the Third Session of the Second House of Assembly.

“The increasing intensity of such man-made disasters calls for more vigorous application of the environmental impact assessment practices and the enforcement of related regulations,” the report said.

“While the Virgin Islands (VI) has created a number of toolkits for mitigating such disasters, there is scope for ensuring that disasters resulting from land degradation and poor land management can be further minimized,” the report said.

It noted that monitoring of natural hazards and assessment of potential disasters are important steps in disaster management in which the application of space technology is becoming increasingly useful.

“The VI is susceptible to water-related disasters, particularly floods and events connected with El Nino. This calls for the development of strategic approaches towards flood control and management to mitigate the social and economic impacts of floods, particularly in the rapidly growing settlement areas of Tortola,” the report warned.