The Yasawa community celebrated a significant advancement in disaster preparedness with the opening of a new evacuation center in Yalobi Village on Wednesday. This facility is a marked improvement over past practices, where villagers had to take their elderly, women, and children to a cave during Hurricane Bebe in 1972 for safety.
The center was inaugurated by Jovesa Vocea, the Assistant Minister for Rural and Maritime Development and Disaster Management. The project involved a total investment of $62,139, which includes $29,433 from the government to retrofit an existing structure. Vocea highlighted the contribution of the United Nations Development Programme Governance for Resilience Project (UNDP Gov4Res), which provided $32,706 under the Risk-Informed Development initiative.
Vocea recognized the local community’s efforts in constructing the original facility, which was built through a full community contribution of $47,000. He emphasized that the center serves as a refuge for approximately 200 residents, providing a safe haven during emergencies.
Village headman Nacanieli Vakalagilagi expressed gratitude for the new facility, noting that Yalobi Village is particularly vulnerable to natural disasters like cyclones and flooding. He reflected on the community’s historical reliance on the cave during past hurricanes and shared that the memories of those experiences will now become part of the village’s history with the establishment of the new evacuation center.
The facility is equipped with a two-side porch, a new kitchen, separate toilet and bathroom facilities, ramps for disability access, two 10,000-liter rainwater storage tanks, kitchen utensils, tables and chairs, and a solar electrification system.