Minister Bredell Salutes the Disaster Management Team

Delivered by Peter Pullen on Behalf of Minister Anton Bredell

It is indeed a great pleasure to welcome our friends from Japan here today and I echo their sentiments regarding the excellent work that our Disaster Management Team, under the very able leadership of Mr Colin Diener, recently carried out in Japan.

It is during disasters like the one that your country recently experienced that one's true friends step up and share your great loss. Our innermost sympathy went out to Japan and her people, and we are very proud of the small but valuable role our people could play in your darkest hour.

We are today often bombarded with all sorts of buzz words and many of them are often quite meaningless. I would however today like to use a few words which I think sums up the quality of our Disaster Management Team and that is they are an example of the very "best practice" in their field and we, the people of the Western Cape Province, can be justifiably proud of the work they do and the extremely high standards they are setting at an international level. This does not happen by accident but is a result of dedication, commitment and the highest levels of ongoing training.

I am sure that our friends from Japan join me in saluting your team here today.