Despite its cash flow problems, the Office of Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Management (ODPEM) says it is ready for the 2004 hurricane season, which began yesterday and which the American-based National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration predicts (NOAA) will be an active one.

“Evidently (cash flow problems) will affect our ability to respond and this is why we are trying to ensure that we have in place contingency arrangements to cover some of the gaps through our partner agencies, partners in the private sector and through our NGO partners,” ODPEM’s director-general Dr Barbara Carby told a news conference yesterday.

She said ODPEM would use the NOAA’s forecast as a guide to plan for disasters, particularly the “judicious pre-positioning” of equipment and material as well as deployment of resources.

She also promised maximum usage of ODPEM’s available resources, and said the agency was in the process of asking parish councils and public sector partners to revise their memoranda of understanding with their partners and suppliers.

“It is very important this year that we make use of the partnership that we have developed for the management of hazards,” she emphasised.

In addition, she noted that based on past trends, the agency would also be able to access funds from the Ministry of Finance to respond to any disaster.

The NOAA predicts between 12 and 15 tropical storms for the 2004 hurricane season, as well as between six and eight hurricanes, with four having the potential to become major hurricanes.

Two hurricanes are also predicted to happen in the region of the Caribbean Sea.

According to Sylvia McGill, director of the Meteorological Service, the 2004 forecast points to a 50 per cent probability of above-normal activity, 40 per cent of near-normal activity and ten per cent below-normal.

“The normal activity during the hurricane season is for 10 tropical storms of which six could become hurricanes,” McGill warned.

The 2004 Hurricane Season runs until November 30.

Locally, ODPEM is also observing the month of June as Disaster Preparedness Month, with several activities planned under the theme “man-made disasters and our changing environment”.

Among the activities planned are a Hurricane Preparedness Expo on June 12 and a community/street meeting to introduce residents of Linstead to the zonal committees operating in St Catherine as well as to garner community support for disaster preparedness issues in that area. The meeting, the ODPEM said, is the first in a series to be held in communities across the island.

In addition, June 9 will be observed as Disaster Preparedness Day in Schools and will feature, among other things, earthquake and fire drills for students and staff. A Disaster Preparedness Cultural Exchange will be held at the Holy Childhood Preparatory School.

Hurricane Awareness Week for Businesses will be observed from June 14 to 18, while parish disaster coordinators will hold several activities and sensitisation sessions across the island.

ODPEM’s senior director of preparedness and emergency in the operations division, Ronald Jackson, told the news conference that the agency had prepared more than 200 emergency kits to be issued to victims of major disasters.

The kits, which are for shelter managers, adults and children, contain basic necessities such as bedding, eating utensils, personal items, diapers, formulas and hygienic and recreational items for children.

Jackson said the agency was also in the process of examining the over 900 designated shelters to ensure that they were safe.

But in outlining the agency’s plan of action yesterday, the director-general stressed that the island’s preparedness for disasters was not solely in the hands of ODPEM, but was the responsibility of all Jamaicans.

“We have in our hands the ability to ensure that the impact of a disaster on this country, the loss of life, the loss of revenue, is greatly reduced if we manage our environment and our hazards adequately,” Carby said.

She remarked that the situation in Haiti and Dominican Republic where devastating floods claimed more than 1,000 lives last week was evidence of what can happen if “we do not adequately manage our hazards and our environment”.

Meanwhile, she said a boat had been designated to take relief supplies to Haiti in the coming days, and that ODPEM was collaborating with the Red Cross as well as the Office of the Prime Minister in collecting donations from private citizens and members of the private sector.

“We have not yet received an official needs list out of Haiti. The supplies we are giving now are supplies that would normally be needed after an event of this type,” she said.

“However, once an official needs list (is sent) we would again see what assistance can be given based on the needs expressed by the country of Haiti,” she added.