Weather boss promises top class climate conference

(CNS): Cayman Islands National Weather Service (CINWS) Director General Fred Sambula has said that Cayman intended to be the best possible host for the 50th Session of the Caribbean Meteorological Council (CMC) which will be held here this week. Over 45 delegates and government ministers from the region have so far confirmed their attendance including the Secretary-General of the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) Michel Jarraud. The conference will focus on providing weather services and will examine the 2010 Atlantic hurricane season and its impact as well as scientific developments and radar projects.

Jarraud was first appointed in 2004 by the Fourteenth World Meteorological Congress; he was then re-appointed for a second four-year term that started in 2008. He holds membership in six meteorological societies: France, US, UK, Africa, China and Cuba. Having begun his career with the French national meteorological service, he later worked at the internationally renowned European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts before joining the WMO.

“We are pleased to have the Secretary-General and all the other delegates who are experts in the field attending the conference,” said Sambula. “I am looking forward to the information exchange and the meeting of the minds as we formulate a regional strategy to contribute to the global framework for climate services.”

He explained that an inter-agency committee was formed to organize the meeting, and is well advanced in its plans. “It is our goal to be the best hosts possible; promote the Cayman Islands and execute a seamless conference,” Sambula added.

The CMC 50 is being held 18 to 23 November at the Marriott Beach Resort, Grand Cayman and is themed ‘Towards a Global Framework for Climate Service,” the conference will officially open on 22 November with government ministers and meteorological experts from some 16 Caribbean countries attending. CMC 50 will begin with a closed door session of the Board of Governors of the Caribbean Institute for Meteorology and Hydrology on 18 and 19 November. Directors of the Meteorological Services will meet on Saturday, 20 November, in another closed session.

In addition to the Cayman Islands, delegates and ministers are drawn from 15 regional countries. These include Anguilla, Antigua, Barbados, Belize, British Virgin Islands, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Jamaica, Montserrat, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent, Trinidad and Tobago, and Turks and Caicos.