Disaster Vulnerability Reduction Project gets $40 Million

A sum of $40 million has been allocated to the Jamaica Disaster Vulnerability Reduction Project, to enhance the country’s resilience to disaster and climate risk.

As outlined in the 2016/17 Estimates of Expenditure, tabled in the House of Representatives on April 14, the project, being implemented by the Office of the Prime Minister, is slated to run from April 2016 to February 2020.

The anticipated targets for the first year of the project include the procurement of consultancy for coastal assessment, engineering services, adaptation designs, training and awareness; and development of software for a National Risk Information Platform.

The overall targets of the project fall under three components – technical assistance for improved disaster and climate resilience; risk reduction; and contingent emergency response.

These include the upgrade of equipment and facilities to strengthen the seismic monitoring network; and the establishment of the National Risk Information Platform, a Coastal Risk Atlas and a training programme to support the implementation of the National Building Code.

National and sub-national bridges and urban drainage are also to be retrofiited or constructed over the duration of the project, and coastal protection measures are to be implemented. The project further seeks to support the financing of post-disaster critical emergency goods or emergency recovery and associated activities.

It is being funded through the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD).