MONTEGO BAY, St James - Explaining that it cost more to recover from a disaster than to implement risk reduction measures, Karen Hilliard, the chief of mission of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), is urging Jamaicans to support disaster-preparedness programmes.

"Supporting disaster-preparedness programmes is a critical socio-economic investment," Hilliard said during a recent address at a St James Parish Council Disaster Education Awareness Programme awards ceremony held at in the parish.

"It cost governments, the private sector, the donor country and the individual more money to repair and recover from a disaster that it would cost to implement risk-reduction measures," she said.

And Jamaica, she noted, has had its fair share of natural disasters.

"Hurricane Ivan in 2004 and Hurricane Dean in 2007 are just two of the disasters that caused millions of dollars in property damage, disruption in production and livelihoods, and left many communities displaced," she said.

It is estimated that Ivan - the Category Four Hurricane - alone left some US$590 million in direct and indirect damage when it passed over the island.

Hilliard said that continued focus on risk reduction efforts is an essential way to safeguard Jamaica's valuable human and material resources.

She noted that USAID is collaborating with several stakeholders to mitigate the threats and economic costs of bush fires and other natural disasters on Jamaica's rural economy.

Uncontrolled bush fires and drought, she said, have taken a toll on the country's farming communities, accounting for a total economic loss of more that $270 million in 2005.

She said the USAID's Protected Area and Rural Enterprise (PARE) project is currently working to improve natural resource management practices and livelihoods in and around conversation sites.

The agency too, she said, has partnered with the US Forest Service to sponsor training on the application of incident command system in emergency and disaster preparedness and fire prevention.

Hilliard said several Jamaican agencies, including the Ministry of Environment and Local Government, ODPEM, the Jamaica Fire Brigade, the Forestry Department and the National Environment and Planning Agency (NEPA), have participated in the training.

Meanwhile, US Ambassador Brenda La Grange Johnson, who was also in attendance at the ceremony, has commended the St James Parish Council for its role in sensitising the public on disaster preparedness.

"The council has continued to sensitise communities, particularly in schools, through quiz, poster and essay competitions," she said.

At the same time, she urged the citizens to adequately prepare themselves for the natural disasters.

The St James Parish Council Disaster Education Awareness programme was launched by the council's disaster preparedness unit in 2006.

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