Prime Minister Andrew Holness speaks truth when he advises Jamaicans to pay greater attention to how and where they build with a view to resilience and sustainability.

Hurricane Melissa, which devastated western Jamaica last October just a year after Hurricane Beryl had sideswiped the south coast provide indisputable evidence of the perils of doing otherwise.

But it’s not just a case of individuals or groups making wrong choices.

In some cases, relevant authorities have been at fault in authorising construction in vulnerable areas such as on low-lying, flood-prone terrain.

None of this is new. Jamaicans have long been inclined to settle and build in disaster-prone areas for all sorts of reasons, including perceived socio-economic necessity.

We suspect that generations-old Parottee, the small fishing village in south-west St Elizabeth, which, like neighbouring Black River, was virtually annihilated by Melissa’s waves, powerful winds, and rain, falls within the latter category.

Now we are reminded by Dr Holness of the desire to relocate Parottee residents to the Luana Housing Scheme — an ongoing development — several miles inland.

It should come as no surprise that some are reluctant to move.

To begin with, despite Parottee’s obvious vulnerability as a low-lying coastal community on the fringe of the Lower Black River Morass, nothing even remotely resembling the disaster brought on by Melissa had ever happened to those residents before.

For some, there is probably the feeling that it is unlikely to happen again.

Yet, as weather-related experts keep telling us, climate change, inclusive of global warming, mean events such as Melissa are likely to become far more frequent.

That’s why, in addition to rebuilding stronger and better, Dr Holness and his Government points to the necessity to relocate away from flood-prone and other at-risk areas.

In the case of Parottee, the prime minister tells us that “…There is no intention to dispossess the people of Parottee of their land, their livelihood, and their homes…” And further that, “There is no force; it is all about dialogue.”

Relocating people is never straightforward. Down the years, for example, there has been repeated talk of moving residents from New River, the flood-prone community close to Santa Cruz, located in, or on the fringe of the Upper Black River Morass. On every occasion, such talk has dissipated once the flood waters vanish.

And there is the famous case of unique New Market, a historic, flood-prone village located in an upland basin in north-western St Elizabeth. The massive June floods of 1979 left New Market submerged by a huge lake for well in excess of a year. As a result, Lewisville — named for the late Member of Parliament Neville Lewis — was built on a hill above New Market, complete with high school, police station, post office, health centre, library, planned town centre with market area, and a neighbouring housing scheme. However, once the water receded some who had relocated to Lewisville went back to doing business in New Market.

There have been flood episodes since — though not nearly as severe as 1979.

However, New Market remains an important junction for travellers to and from St Elizabeth — linking with areas further west and the crucial Sangster International Airport.

For sure, there is much to consider as Jamaicans rebuild, restore, and refocus post-Melissa.