The government has decided to develop the Disaster Management Centre (DMC) as a global responder to assist countries affected by disasters, Defence State Minister Premitha Bandara Tennakoon says.

During a discussion with a U.S National Guard delegation in Colombo on Wednesday (May 17), the lawmaker remarked that the government intends to develop the country’s disaster management sector to be on par with global standards.

Highlighting the importance of the need to develop civil-military coordination, the state minister also said that the Sri Lankan military would be gradually right-sized.

Further, he stressed the importance of adopting new and emerging technologies in order to increase effectiveness and efficiency.

The U.S. delegation head, Major General John P. Hronek said that they would assist at tactical and operational levels in training and emergency response during disaster situations.

The importance of establishing a building code to minimize damages and introducing an alarm system through mobile phones were also among the topics discussed during the discussion.

Maj. Gen. Hronek is the Adjutant General for the State of Montana, serving as Commander of the Montana National Guard and the Director of the Department of Military Affairs.

Defence Ministry’s Senior Assistant Secretary (Defence) Harsha Withanarachchi, Director General of the Disaster Management Centre, Maj. Gen. (Retd) Sudantha Ranasinghe and Defence attaché of the US embassy in Colombo, Lt. Col. Anthony C. Nelson were also among those present at the discussion.