Cypriot MP calls on Gov Niran

PHUKET CITY: Cypriot MP and European Parliament Member Marios Matsakis on August 1 met with top Phuket officials to follow up on Phuket’s progress in disaster prevention measures since the 2004 tsunami.

Phuket Governor Niran Kalayanamit and Chotnarin Kerdsom, chief of the Department of Disaster Mitigation and Prevention (DDPM-Phuket), were both on hand to brief him.

Mr Matsakis, who is also a member of the European Parliament’s Environment Committee, said, “Cyprus was one of the first countries to send a team of doctors to Phuket after the tsunami and so I wanted to see the area that my home country has supported.”

“We are very much interested in finding out how the relief work and development has been going since the tsunami,” he added.

“Our community wants to make sure that there is an adequate system in place to prevent another catastrophe from happening,” he said.

Governor Niran gave assurances that the island is well prepared for another tsunami, he said.