Improved Community-Level Resilience Coming in Disaster Preparedness
Prime Minister Dr. Andrew Holness says building resilience at the community level is crucial in the country’s disaster response.
Speaking last Thursday (July 10) during the Hurricane Beryl – Building a Better Jamaica Fund: National Tribute to Partnership and Recovery, the Prime Minister emphasized the need for local preparedness and sustainable recovery strategies.
Prime Minister Holness noted that over the last decade, Jamaica has endured and rebounded from a series of global and domestic shocks, including the COVID-19 pandemic and rising geopolitical tensions. Prime Minister Holness said, prudent economic management, in recent years, has better equipped the country to withstand financial crises. However, Dr Holness cautioned that national resilience must be mirrored at the household and community levels, especially in the face of increasingly severe climate events, like Hurricane Beryl.
Prime Minister Holness said: “Resilience has become a feature of the Jamaican economy and society in the last decade. We were able, in this last major shock, to address the fallout without borrowing. We were able to launch a national response right away because built into our fiscal management were buffers and insurance, which obviated the need to borrow to respond to a crisis.”
Referencing the widespread damage caused by Hurricane Beryl, the Prime Minister highlighted the importance of structural integrity and community-based action in disaster preparedness. Dr. Holness explained that homes built using proper techniques, such as hurricane straps and approved roofing materials, fared significantly better in affected areas.
“What we want to do is to make it a feature of the Jamaican society. So we want to move it out of the ethereal hemisphere, where this is just some big word that politicians use, to get it down to the community level, where the average household understands that hurricanes and other weather disasters and economic shocks are a part of life and how we structure our household business is such that when it strikes, not only the national economy can withstand and recover, but my household can recover,” said Prime Minister Holness.
In the meantime, the Prime Minister commended the efforts of civil society partners and local organizations, particularly those in communities like St. Elizabeth, for their swift and coordinated responses to the storm. Dr. Holness emphasized that community training, smart construction practices, and grassroots coordination are essential components of Jamaica’s broader disaster resilience strategy.