Tourism Minister Edmund Bartlett has renewed his call for the creation of a Caribbean resilience fund, describing it as a regional necessity that goes beyond policy and enters the realm of moral responsibility.

Speaking at the Leow Hotel Lowe in Coral Gables, Florida last week during a fund raising dinner for Jamaican and Haitian tourism workers, Bartlett said the time had come for the Caribbean to rethink how it prepares for and responds to natural hazards, especially hurricanes, which continue to threaten lives, livelihoods and the region’s economic backbone—tourism.

“The resilience fund, anchored in the work of the GTRCMC (Global Tourism Resilience & Crisis Management Centre) and aligned with national resilience strategies, is therefore not a policy option. It is a moral imperative, an act of foresight and an act of justice,” declared Bartlett, who is also chairman of GTRCMC.

He urged regional leaders to move decisively from reactive disaster response to proactive, structured resilience-building.

“The time has come for us to shift from surviving disasters to shaping resilience; from reacting to emergencies to preparing systematically; from waiting for assistance to organising our own regional instruments,” he said.

“Let this moment be remembered as the point where the Caribbean chose to lead rather than to plead,” he added.

Bartlett emphasised that the Caribbean’s long history with devastating storms has shaped a people who understand resilience, not as an abstract concept, but as lived experience.

“To the people of Jamaica and to our brothers and sisters across the Caribbean, I say this: you have lived through storms that have tested the limits of human endurance. You have buried loved ones, rebuilt homes, restarted businesses and restored communities. You have shown the world that resilience is not a theory; it is the daily decision to get up after being knocked down,” he said.

According to Bartlett, the proposed fund would help ensure that the region is “better prepared, better protected and better positioned to recover quickly” when future disasters strike.

He argued that strong recovery mechanisms will help stabilise the region’s tourism sector — one of its most critical economic pillars.

“When our tourism sector returns to full strength, our economies will regain their balance. When our workers return to their jobs with renewed security, our societies will regain their confidence,” he said.

“When our institutions, including the GTRCMC, are fully empowered, our region will speak with greater authority in the global conversation on resilience and climate justice,” he added.

Bartlett concluded with a call for unity and long-term resolve.

“May this spirit guide our decisions. May this unity sustain our efforts. And may resilience remain the defining feature of the Caribbean story in the years ahead,” he said.

The renewed call for the Caribbean Resilience Fund comes at a time when climate-related disasters are increasing in frequency and severity, leaving regional leaders under growing pressure to secure sustainable financial buffers.