SoIomon Islands Met service equipped for online forums

BY LYNTON AARON FILIA

Director of SPREP’s Climate Change Resilience Programme, Ms Tagaloa Cooper and Mr Alick Haruhiru of the Solomon Islands Met Service. Photo SPREP.

SOLOMON Islands Met Services (SIMS) is now better equipped to participate in the Online Climate Outlook Forums (OCOF), with the handover of a conference telephone set in Samoa.

On behalf of SPREP (Pacific Regional Environment Programme), Director of the Climate Change Resilience Programme Ms Tagaloa Cooper handed over the telephone set to Mr Alick Haruhiru, representative from Met Services last month.

The handover took place during the research strategy workshop hosted at Taumeasina Island Resort in Apia, Samoa.

The initiative was funded by the Government of Australia, through the Climate and Oceans Support Programme for Pacific (COSPPac).

Supporting National Meteorological and Hydrological Services (NMHS) varies in scale and it all counts.

SPREP Meteorological and Climate Officer, Mr Salesa Nihmei said, “Small assistance such as the provision of this phone go a long way for assisting NMHSs effectively to participate in regional monthly climate forums.

“As some might be aware, the Secretariat of the SPREP and the Bureau of Meteorology (BoM) through the COSPPac project conducts online climate outlook forums (OCOF) with many of the Pacific NMHS on a monthly basis to discuss seasonal climate forecast.

“Climate Outlooks enables the NMHSs to inform end-users to make decisions on the predicted climate in the coming months.”

Access to reliable and clear phone connection is very difficult when hosting teleconferences, especially in smaller NMHS, he explained.

He said there are many challenges with internet, line connections and others but having a multiple teleconference phone will enable SIMS to not only be part of the OCOFs every month but further expand their NMHS services to engage with their stakeholders.

Papua New Guinea Met Services also requested SPREP through COSPPac project to provide a teleconference phone as well.

SPREP COSPPac Climatology Officer, Mr Philip Malsale confirmed procurement of teleconference phones for all Met services participating in OCOF will be handed to NMSs in Tonga during the COSPPac Steering Committee meeting on May 8-11, 2018.

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