PACC in the Federated States of Micronesia

PACC Kosrae given support at the highest level

11/3/2009

The State of Kosrae supports the Pacific Adaptation to Climate Change Project at the highest level. The Lieutenant Governor, the Hon. William Tosie has welcomed the project which will assist Kosrae to build its capacity to develop climate proofed road systems.

The PACC Project for the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM) is being implemented in the State of Kosrae. FSM has three other states; Phonpei, Chuuk and Yap in the far West.

Last week a PACC inception meeting was held in Kosrae to introduce and explain the project. It was attended by most government agencies, representatives from the Non Governmental Organisations, the chair of Kosrae’s Women Association, tourism, and mayors of town councils.

In his presentation, Mr. Taito Nakalevu, the Project Manager of PACC indicated the project will assist the state of Kosrae to build its capacity to develop and demonstrate adaptive designs in coastal road systems to enhance resilience against intense rainfall and storm surges.

With the Government co-financing support going towards building a road to the remote village of Walung, the PACC project will ensure that current and future changes in climate are taken into consideration in the design and building of the new road.

Climate change, manifest as intense rainfall and storm surges, incurs a cost to building and maintenance of existing and new roading networks. Climate proofing new road designs would go along way in reducing maintenance costs over time.

According to Mr. Joe Konno, one of the consultants that assisted in the climate proofing assessment, the team in their study noted that the drainage works for the original road design (both built and as yet un-built sections) were based on a maximum hourly rainfall of 178 mm, which supposedly had a return period of 25 years.

Assessment findings from Mr Konno’s team revealed that the hourly rainfall with a return period of 25 years is 190 mm.

By 2050, the hourly rainfall with a 25-year return period is anticipated to increase to 254 mm as a consequence of climate change.

The current proposal is therefore is for the design of the road to be modified so that the drainage works can accommodate an hourly rainfall of 254 mm.

The Director of Kosrae Island Resource Management (KIRMA), Mr. Robert Jackson was pleased that all the work planned during the week was realised with the Inception Meeting as a highlight.

The PACC project will be implemented jointly in Kosrae by the Department of Transportation and Infrastructure (DT&I) and the Kosrae Island Resource Management (KIRMA).

The PACC is funded by the Global Environment Facility (GEF) with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) as its implementing agency and the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP) as implementing partner.

 

Contact Name:	Taito Nakalevu
E-mail:	taiton@sprep.org
Phone:	(685) 21929
Fax:	(685) 20231