Vodafone Samoa has donated a high tech DJI Pro Drone to assist with the response operations of the National Emergency Operations Centre (N.E.O.C) and the Disaster Management Office.

The donation is part of Vodafone’s Corporate Social Responsibility and assisting N.E.O.C at an unprecedented time with the weather was the ultimate goal.

Held at the N.E.O.C office at Tuanaimato, Acting Chief Executive Officer of Vodafone Samoa, Rana Bose officially handed over the equipment to the Acting Chief Executive Officer and Manager and Response Coordinator at N.E.O.C/D.M.O, Fesolai Molly Faamanatu Nielsen.

Fesolai acknowledged the assistance adding that it will greatly assist the office with their response measures especially with its' mapping operations.

"It is times like these that we need such technology and not only for the bad weather season but also for natural disasters and our other response operations like mapping, this technology can come in very handy to us for such operations so we're really grateful," she said.

Mr. Bose conveyed their appreciation for the work N.E.O.C and D.M.O does for the country in times of natural disasters and heavy rain and flooding seasons.

"We're privileged to assist your office with a high tech DJI Pro Drone technology to equip your office with emergency projects and we hope it is used accordingly to its' purpose," he added.

"Technology can play a very important part in saving lives as we have seen in recent disasters in Samoa at such times."

Mr. Bose added that the model and type of the drone technology was selected accordingly to the kind of work N.E.O.C does, making it convenient for the staff to use in times of emergencies where they can easily carry around.

The high tech DJI Pro Drone is currently available on the market at a cost of WST$3,999 and has significantly longer flight ranges of over nine miles.

The activation of N.E.O.C. is part of Samoa’s National Emergency Response Plan as per the National Disaster Management Plan (NDMP) under the National Disaster and Emergency Act 2007.

It works in collaborations with D.M.O in assisting with natural disaster incidents across the country.