Imani Tafari-Ama | People-centred approach to development

Hurricane Melissa disrupted previously held notions of normality in Jamaica. The education sector is now about the haves and have-nots. More than half of the island’s schools have suffered severe structural damage, compounded by ongoing loss of light and water. It is therefore not feasible for them to be operational without substantial repairs.

Many teachers have been directly impacted, which affects their ability to provide optimal service to students. Because of the extensive damage to domestic and public facilities, their capacity to concentrate on their teaching duties has been severely destabilised. The longer it takes for systems to reassert smooth operations, the more severe will be the impact on those who have suffered losses.

A bi-partisan approach has been adopted to the reopening of schools. This has meant that students and teachers in the eastern parishes, which were minimally affected by the passage of the unprecedented Category 5 storm, are proceeding with business as usual. However, the story is drastically different for the worst affected institutions.

In the twinkling of an eye, the environmental reality shifted for so many persons. Several schools are still being used as shelters while others have lost significant sections of main buildings. Repair and recovery are expected to take months, if not years.

While there is much talk about providing temporary solutions, early analysis suggests that, as happened during the COVID-19 pandemic, social inequalities, which are deeply entrenched in the Jamaican society, are in danger of widening, in the context of the current crisis. During the COVID emergency, students who did not have access to smart phones, tablets, computers or internet connectivity to enable online participation, tragically, fell through yawning educational gaps. A study undertaken by CAPRI at the time underlined the far-reaching effects of these vulnerabilities.

SLOW AND UNDERPREPARED

While the government works to strengthen its response infrastructure, many sectors have been slow and underprepared for new humanitarian and ecological challenges. A couple of communities remain cut off from the outside, accessible only by helicopter traffic. The sign one boy held up said, “food, water or money”. A brief message highlighting the severity of life without necessities.

Medical Economist M.F. Weiner originated the cynical phrase, “never waste a good crisis”. This sentiment initially alluded to the opportunities for health improvement presented by well-being challenges. Nowadays, it has become associated with the rampant corruption that can and does accompany disasters. For example, the wealthy few are notorious for mass enrichment during times of war or natural catastrophes, when they have exclusive means to take advantage of market opportunities.

Jamaica was already mired in a climate of corruption prior to Melissa’s disastrous landfall in the country’s agricultural and tourism hubs. Notable public servants tarred with this feather have often avoided charges. This explains why people like Rosalea Hamilton and Michael Abrahams are advocating strict oversight of the management of the millions pouring into Jamaica. The Jamaica Accountability Meter Portal (JAMP) has bolstered this call for real-time forensic auditing of aid administration. They want transparency and accountability wired into all operations.

These political pundits’ suggestion that government’s management of aid should have clear evaluation mechanisms echoes widespread lack of public trust in state authorities. They are also raising relevant concerns about the State’s capacity to prioritise public benefits over the possibilities for political graft, which abound.

UNSUNG HUMANITARIANS

In the meantime, many unsung humanitarians are taking the risky journey to the central and western parishes to make their voluntary contributions to the relief effort. Given urgent needs surpassing short-term aid, a sustainability strategy is immediately required. Replacing housing stock must be the top priority, to cauterise the worsening human haemorrhage. People have lost their homes, along with the comfort and memories they held. They have lost a sense of security that a place to live provides. Many stories testify of the terror of having no thought of what tomorrow may look like.

That is why Mark Malabver, the president of the Jamaica Teachers’ Association, should have a voice at the recovery management table. He keeps saying that it is unreasonable to open schools in the disaster-hit areas until the psychosocial health of teachers and students alike is addressed. A parish like Westmoreland, where the colonial footprint dictated the flimsy character of the mostly wooden houses, provides a critical teaching-and-learning opportunity for his recommendation of a human-centred approach to recovery.

Hurricane Melissa decolonised the sugar-plantation housing model, dictating to the State that it should now apply a transformational approach to sustainable community development. What comes next? The vision should be for a sober approach to spending the billions made available for supporting the subjects whose lives Melissa unceremoniously levelled. In the short term, moving residents away from the disaster-stricken sites to facilitate reconstruction efforts may suffice.

The State has a moral responsibility to evacuate victims and promptly provide lasting public housing solutions for everyone displaced, covering all costs itself. No need to recreate the wheel either. The Inner-city Housing Project model, designed by the National Housing Trust, integrated technical and social development characteristics and provides a substantial template for withstanding future storms.

Crown lands could be cleared to provide immediate shelter to rationalise assistance. Mobile education centres and gender-aware safeguards should be incorporated in this temporary-city design. Recalibrating the ecological framework is also urgent. Half the forestry stock has been lost or compromised. Rapid tree, flora, fauna, animal and insect species replacement should accompany future-proofing approaches to agricultural recuperation.

Prime Minister Dr Andrew Holness has assumed direct responsibility for post-Melissa governance, incorporating the Office of Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Management into his office. As head of CARICOM, he has even bigger fish to fry, if you pardon the pun. With over 70 fishermen already killed by the US in its war against Venezuela, Trinidad and Tobago’s shocking support for this effort is even more concerning. That is a political hurricane in a category all by itself.

Imani Tafari-Ama, PhD, is a Pan-African advocate and gender and development specialist. Send feedback to i.tafariama@gmail.com and columns@gleanerjm.com