Dear Editor,

The UK Government is now telling its citizens to stockpile water, tinned food, and basic supplies for emergencies. That should be a wake-up call for Jamaica — not because London knows something we don’t, but because we already know exactly what we’re up against.

Hurricane Melissa, a catastrophic Category 5 storm that tore through our south coast, left dozens dead and over US$12 billion in damage. It proved that when infrastructure fails and supply chains snap, help can take days to arrive. We saw empty shelves, impassable roads, and families scrambling for basics.

At the same time, global tensions are rising. Jamaica has just signed a Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) with the United States, formalising US military access for joint operations. Whether we welcome that or not, it ties us more closely to geopolitical currents that can shift fast. We are no longer the quiet backwater we were perceived to be on the map. Remember, US warships and all-island power cuts.

So why not take a page — or two — out of the doom preppers book? These so-called extremists have been right all along: individual readiness is the last line of defence when the system buckles. We know the wealthy among us have plans, and the more extreme have bunkers or years of rations, but every household should keep a 72-hour kit with water, non-perishable food, batteries, and first-aid supplies, not just for hurricane season, but year-round.

This isn’t fearmongering; it’s common sense. The UK isn’t panicking; it’s planning. National Reconstruction and Resilience Authority (NaRRA) isn’t the plan, it is, in my opinion, a despotic power grab. We need a real actionable plan that can operate from the grass roots up, because we cannot trust the top-down method and modus operandi.

We should do the same as the UK, and also take the prepping of other nations as a serious indication of the world we live in, because the next Melissa or the next geopolitical shock won’t send a warning.

Yannick Pessoa

Montego Bay

yannickpessoa@yahoo.com