Opposition demands answers after Jamaica left in the dark during tsunami alert
KINGSTON, Jamaica — The Opposition People’s National Party (PNP) has slammed the government for its silence during Saturday’s tsunami alert issued for more than a dozen countries, including Jamaica, calling it a “gross dereliction of duty”.
Yesterday, a magnitude 7.6 quake rattled the Caribbean Sea about 130 miles (209 kilometres) off the coast of the Cayman Islands, setting off tsunami alerts along the coasts of the Cayman Islands, Jamaica, Cuba, Mexico, Honduras, Bahamas, Belize, Haiti, Costa Rica, Panama, Nicaragua and Guatemala.
However, the United States (US) government monitoring agency later cancelled all but three of the alerts, though it cautioned that “small sea level changes may occur”.
The alert was eventually lifted for all countries.
READ: UPDATE: Tsunami warning lifted for Jamaica, several other countries
In a statement on Sunday, Opposition Spokesperson on Local Government, Natalie Neita Garvey criticised the Office of Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Management (ODPEM) and the Ministry of Local Government for failing to issue timely warnings or guidance to the public, warning that such negligence could have led to catastrophic consequences.
“At no time during the 70 minutes the alert was in effect did the country hear from its government or the responsible agency, the Office of Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Management,” she said.
Noting a release over three hours later informing of an advisory but denying a warning, Garvey said the Opposition considers this a gross dereliction of duty and an extremely irresponsible failure by the Ministry of Local Government and the ODPEM.
The late advisory from ODPEM, only shared to X (formerly Twitter), has since received public backlash.
Garvey is calling for an urgent review of the country’s disaster alert and warning systems to ensure they are fully functional and supported by adequate response mechanisms, expertise and funding.
She described the performance of the ministry and its agency last night as “scary” and demanded that the minister, as the accountable officer, immediately provide the nation with a credible explanation.
