CAPRI report outlines 16 policy changes to strengthen Jamaica’s disaster preparedness

The Caribbean Policy Research Institute (CAPRI) is recommending 16 policy changes to strengthen Jamaica’s disaster preparedness, warning that rebuilding after Hurricane Melissa without addressing the weaknesses exposed by the storm could leave the country vulnerable to future disasters.

The recommendations are outlined in a new report, ‘Higher Ground: Lessons from Hurricane Melissa for Resilience, Relief, and Recovery’, which examines the factors that contributed to the damage and challenges experienced during the Category 5 hurricane.

The report says 86 per cent of the damage caused by Melissa was to the built environment, much of it affecting buildings constructed before an enforceable national building code was introduced.

It also points to weaknesses in the electricity infrastructure, which was designed to withstand a Category 3 hurricane, as well as the loss of natural coastal defences, including mangroves and forests.

The impact extended to essential public services. According to the report, electricity took seven months to restore, while about 80 public schools were still operating in tents or on rotation a year after the hurricane made landfall.

CAPRI also identified weaknesses in the delivery of emergency assistance, including delays in getting relief to vulnerable households and the slow disbursement of donated funds.

The institute argues that while Jamaica had made provisions for the financial cost of disasters, there was not a similar level of preparedness in infrastructure, natural defences and systems for delivering public assistance.

The proposed reforms cover four main areas: the natural environment, the built environment, public services and welfare, and disaster financing.

Among the recommendations are upgrading the electricity grid to withstand a Category 5 hurricane, strengthening building standards, protecting forests and mangroves, establishing a permanent digital platform to manage relief and claims, and improving accountability in the use of disaster funds.

CAPRI says the report is intended to encourage evidence-based public discussion about the reforms Jamaica can implement to reduce the impact of future disasters.

The report was launched earlier this week at the Montego Bay Cultural Centre in partnership with the St James Municipal Corporation.

The discussion was moderated by Dr Damien King, with contributions from Rose-Ann Smith, Naudia Crosskill and Robert Kinlocke.

‘Higher Ground: Lessons from Hurricane Melissa for Resilience, Relief, and Recovery’ was produced with funding support from the European Union.

THE 16 POLICY RECOMMENDATIONS ARE:

1. Protect and restore mangrove forests, and count natural defences in reconstruction plans.

2. Protect remaining unprotected primary forests, except in limited cases enumerated in law.

3. Revise design standards against a forward assessment of the hazard, beginning with how roofs are fastened.

4. Upgrade the electricity grid to withstand a Category 5 hurricane, beginning with the transmission network.

5. Draft a wind standard for the frames that hold solar panels and require it in every contract for new utility-scale solar generation.

6. Relocate water treatment plants, water mains, and pumping equipment to locations less exposed to flooding, or raise equipment above flood level.

7. Keep new construction, public and private, out of the most exposed locations, and raise or relocate houses that flood.

8. Plan the order and standard of reconstruction before the next storm.

9. Build a national record of buildings and infrastructure, and make the issue and renewal of utility licences conditional on contributing to it.

10. Require a costed and funded service continuity plan from every licensed utility provider as well as from every hospital and school.

11. Construct dedicated, multi-hazard shelters at strategic locations.

12. Establish a permanent digital relief management and claims platform, backed by a standing register of households.

13. Open the dedicated National Disaster Fund account that the Disaster Risk Management Act has required since 2015, and appoint the Fund Committee and Chairman.

14. In the annual budget, make a minimum, mandatory contribution to the National Disaster Fund, and set a rule for replenishing the framework’s lower tiers after a storm.

15. Establish real-time digital accounting, reporting, and audit protocols so that disaster funds are deployed quickly and transparently.

16. Expand parametric insurance and catastrophe-bond capacity.

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