The Punta Cana Airport is implementing significant measures to face disasters and crisis situations. Recently, 30 officials from the airport and the National System of Prevention, Mitigation, and Response participated in the third edition of the “Airports Ready for Disasters” (GARD, for its English acronym) workshop, organized by the DHL Group in collaboration with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the World Food Programme (WFP).
What is GARD?
This GARD program is a global public-private association that aims to support airports in planning their role as logistics centers in case of natural disasters. During a five-day training, the participants evaluated the current capacity of the Punta Cana Airport to receive humanitarian aid in emergency and large-scale disaster situations.
Dominican Republic is the pioneer
Gilberto Castro, director of the DHL Go Help team for the Americas, highlighted that Dominican Republic was the first country to implement the GARD program globally. In 2014, the UNDP and DHL selected the Dominican Republic to train technicians at the José Francisco Peña Gómez International Airport (SDQ). This has strengthened the National System of Prevention, Mitigation, and Response, extending the methodology to others.
Efforts need to be strengthened
Gabriela Alvarado, representative of the World Food Programme of the United Nations, emphasized the need to prepare each airport as a logistics center in case of climate emergencies, evaluating their capacities to manage the flow of humanitarian aid and personnel in disaster situations.
Every airport is important
Each of these spaces plays a fundamental role in the supply chain of humanitarian aid, especially in a country like the Dominican Republic, which has experienced more than 30 hurricanes in recent decades, with significant humanitarian consequences.
