Edward is new CDEMA chairman

St Lucia’s sustainable development minister Shawn Edward is the new chairman of the Barbados-based Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency (CDEMA).

Edward was elected to the post during a virtual meeting of the organisation’s ninth extraordinary meeting of the council of ministers on August 22.

“It is both an honour and a privilege to serve the region’s lead disaster agency as chairman of the council,” Edward said in a news release.

“I am grateful for the opportunity given to me by my prime minister, Philip J. Pierre to take on this responsibility on behalf the government and people of Saint Lucia and by extension the people of the Caribbean.

“I give the assurance that I will execute my duties as diligently and effectively as possible to advance the development of a more responsive and resilient region in the management of natural disasters”

Edward takes over the chairmanship from former Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs and Justice in St Kitts and Nevis, Vincent Byron Jr, who held the post for two years.

Edward, a veteran educator, has been involved in comprehensive disaster management, having ably led in its advancement in the education sector in St Lucia through CDEMA’s Caribbean Safe Schools Initiative.

Prior to entering active politics, he held several leadership positions in both national and community-based organisations and showed a vested interest in lifelong learning, poverty alleviation, youth empowerment, and disaster management with a focus on relief and recovery.

(PR/AR)