UNSINKABLE. The Department of Science and Technology will provide the provincial government of Nueva Ecija with unsinkable small watercraft (USW) to help strengthen the province's disaster preparedness and response efforts. The USW is lightweight with a body that is made of a polyester resin-marine grade composite. (Photo courtesy of DOST-3)
CITY OF SAN FERNANDO, Pampanga – The Department of Science and Technology-Central Luzon (DOST-3) will help strengthen the preparedness and response efforts of the provincial government of Nueva Ecija in times of calamity.
Under the agency’s Expanded Implementation of the Community Empowerment through Science and Technology (eCEST) program, the DOST will provide the province with an unsinkable small watercraft (USW) to help boost its disaster rescue and relief capabilities.
DOST-3 chief Julius Caesar Sicat said Tuesday the move is part of their efforts to strengthen the disaster rescue and relief capabilities of vulnerable communities in Central Luzon via the adoption of locally developed disaster risk reduction management technologies.
“The USW will help to improve the LGUs' disaster response in mitigating the challenges encountered during and after calamities, especially during flooding,” Sicat said in a social media post.
Meanwhile, Michael Calma, the Nueva Ecija Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (PDRRMO) chief, said the USW’s portable design is suitable for an emergency quick response.
“Ang unsinkable watercraft ay gagamitin in case na may kailangan na i-rescue sa isang flooded area at isa rin itong tool para ma-train yung mga disaster risk reduction and management teams na nasa low-lying levels (The unsinkable watercraft will be used in case there is a need to rescue in a flooded area and it is one of the tools to train the disaster risk reduction and management teams in the low-lying levels),” Calma said in a television interview.
“May kapasidad ang unsinkable watercraft na ito na lumutang kahit mababaw ang tubig kumpara sa normal na bangka na lulutang lamang kapag nasa apat o limang talampakan na ang tubig baha (This unsinkable watercraft has the capacity to float even when the water is shallow compared to a normal boat that floats only when the floodwaters are four or five feet high),” he added.
The body of the USW is made of a polyester resin-marine grade composite and weighs about 180 pounds. It can be lifted by two persons.
Last month, the DOST-3 provided one each of USW to the coastal and flood-prone towns of Bulacan – Bocaue, Bulakan, Calumpit, Hagonoy, Obando, Paombong, Pulilan– and the city of Malolos. (PNA)
