CDEMA head: We can’t play games with disaster readiness

THE region has made some strides in becoming better equipped and prepared for any disasters that may arise, but we are not yet at the level that we ought to be.

And after an expenditure of US$3.5 million in direct country-level resourcing support over the past year, the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency (CDEMA) is trying to get governments, support organisations and citizens in the region to understand that disaster preparedness has to now be seen as a necessary part of their national economic strategies.

Ronald Jackson, the new Executive Director of the
Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency.

These sentiments are coming from CDEMA Executive Director, Ronald Jackson, who told the media during a press conference recently that the worst move for the region at this point would be to rest on our laurels with the gains that we have been making in this respect.

According to him, this move is crucial because there is overwhelming evidence to support that disasters will continue to occur with increasing regularity, against a backdrop of the UN Secretary General’s
recent comments that losses from floods, earthquakes, droughts and other disasters are seriously underestimated and threatens the prosperity of nations.

“Many of our small island developing states are dependent on tourism – an activity which is largely coastal-based and exposed to the ravages of climatic hazards – and an impact can have devastating effects on the overall economies of these countries,” he stated, reminding the media of St. Lucia’s US$336 million losses after it was hit by Hurricane Tomas and Haiti’s loss of 117 per cent of their GDP.

He continued, “What we are seeing internationally is that there no longer can be game playing like Russian roulette, where we say that hazards might not happen to us. We are seeing even in our region that these types of hazards are now far more apparent than they were years ago.

“I can almost suggest that declining fiscal capacity of our governments has a correlation to the seasonal impact situation in which we have found ourselves. There is a relationship between our economic capacity and hazard impact, thus it makes very good sense to invest in prevention and readiness,” he stated.

Although he says that some improvements have been made, including tsunamis readiness, the increased capacity for forecasting in providing early warnings and greater partnership among stakeholders, much more must be done.

“Some states are doing more than others, but we are creating that level of awareness but more importantly, action, to drive the things that need to be done. In terms of housing … quite a bit of work, especially legislatively, in how these building codes are applied and revised must go into it.

“Where we have seen success taking place, there is a mixture of the code application and accountability of developers in this regard. There is still more to be done in many facets, even at the level of … integrating risk management within our planning.” (EL)