In the face of approaching danger…
It was only three months ago that Local Government Minister Desmond McKenzie was reported as appealing to Jamaicans living in communities prone to great risk during natural disasters to comply with mandatory evacuation orders.
At that time, Mr McKenzie was speaking at a function marking the start of the 2016 Atlantic Hurricane Season.
Early last month, after the island had a close shave with Tropical Storm Earl, Mr McKenzie vowed that regulations would be implemented by the end of this year giving the authorities power to sanction people who violate mandatory evacuation orders.
Those regulations, he explained, would come under the Disaster Risk Management Act, which was signed into law in February 2015. However, the law lacks the regulations to govern its application.
The lack of urgency that legislators have displayed in relation to this law is now stark, as weather forecasters are telling us that Hurricane Matthew could affect the island in another few days. If this hurricane does make landfall here, there is no doubt that it will cause heavy damage to property and infrastructure. It is against this background that we urge people living in areas that are at risk of flooding and other related damage to heed calls to evacuate, as we don’t wish to be reporting loss of lives.
We are moved to issue this appeal even as we acknowledge that in recent years people’s attitudes to disaster preparedness have changed for the better. That is due, in no small measure, to the efforts of the Office of Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Management (ODPEM), which has done a good job of informing Jamaicans of the risks to life and property inherent in natural disasters.
The ODPEM, we hold, should also be commended for its unwavering focus on changing the culture of indifference that defined many Jamaicans, particularly in the years before Hurricane Gilbert pummelled Jamaica in September 1988.
It is arguable that the widescale devastation that Hurricane Gilbert unleashed across the entire island served as a sort of game-changer in people’s attitudes to disaster preparedness. For prior to Gilbert, Jamaica had, for years, been spared a direct hit by a hurricane of significant force.
However, the fact that the authorities are still required to appeal to people to heed evacuation notices for coastal areas, communities close to rivers that often become volatile during storms, and those on the banks of gullies, speaks to the general lack of a culture of adherence to life-saving measures.
As we have argued in this space before, any system of mandatory evacuation carries with it serious concerns of security of people’s belongings. But as difficult as it is to leave valuable property in the face of approaching danger, people must appreciate that the protection of life is more important than the protection of property.
We suspect that one of the factors that is likely influencing people’s attitudes to mandatory evacuation is doubt surrounding the obligations of the State in cases where the measure results in loss or damage of property by forces other than that for which the evacuation was made necessary.
That is a discussion that is necessary. However, until then, we appeal to Jamaicans to think first about their safety.