The Coordination Center for the Prevention of Disasters in Central America and the Dominican Republic -Cepredenac- presented the recognition of Resilient Company to the Guatemalan Sugar Industry.
The award recognizes the valuable contribution of the Guatemalan Sugar Industry in incorporating integral risk management to promote sustainable economic development and the construction of a more resilient Central America.
The recognition was received by Luis Miguel Paiz, General Manager of the Guatemalan Sugar Producers Association -Asazgua- who thanked on behalf of the Guatemalan Sugar Industry and added that “the 11 sugar mills that make up the Guatemalan Sugar Industry are aware that we have to prevent and anticipate any disaster, not to be reactive but rather focus on disaster prevention internally and towards communities”.
Organization for resilience
In recent years, Asazgua and the sugar mills have developed Public-Private Partnerships to address different problems on the South Coast of Guatemala, among which the Technical Risk Management Table (Public-Private Alliance) and Water Users´ Meetings can be highlighted, as well as the implementation of the Protocol for the Attention of Emergencies of the Sugar Industry.
In addition, during the last 10 years, Asazgua has received technical / scientific accompaniment and studies generated by the Private Institute for Climate Change Research –ICC. This has help the sugar mills to be aware of their main risks and threats related to the environment. Thanks to this contribution has allowed each company to develop its own actions to reduce its vulnerabilities, and sometimes with joint projects to reduce costs and have greater impacts.
Preparation and execution of the response
Through the different institutions that make up the Guatemalan Sugar Industry, community and family organization has been promoted for emergency care, achieving the formation of Local, Municipal and Departmental Coordinators for Disaster Reduction.
The Guatemalan Sugar Industry has protocols and procedures for responding to emergencies of both natural and sanitary origin.
In recent years, individual drills have been promoted, where each institution that makes up the Sugar Industry develops and evaluates their exercises, applying the provisions of their Occupational Safety protocols.