ODPEM Processing List of Relief Supplies from Overseas Donors

The Office of Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Management (ODPEM) is processing the list of relief supplies pledged by overseas donors, so that it can better match and meet the needs that emerge from damage assessments now underway.
Director of Information and Training at ODPEM, Kretchet Douglas-Greaves, told JIS News today (Aug. 21) that the agency has received “numerous pledges for help for its relief efforts from overseas donors primarily from Canada and the United States.”
She singled out the assistance received from Jamaicans living abroad in coordinating relief supplies for the country. “Of note, the Jamaican Diaspora spread across the globe, they are instrumental to the process of rehabilitation. We have been receiving numerous calls from the Diaspora domiciled in various areas such as New York City and various areas of Canada,” she informed.
“So in terms of relief, the calls are still coming in, the contacts are still being established, and the list is being compiled so that we can move forward more definitively with a better idea of what to expect from where and therefore how we deploy these items,” she noted.
She said that donations are mostly in kind, but this was consistent with the critical items needed in the initial stage of the relief effort.
“To date, the pledges that we have gotten from donor states overseas have been in kind. We are looking at things like roofing items, such as our galvanized sheeting, hooks, latches and bolts; we’re looking at non-perishable foods, bedding, sheets, blankets, sleeping bags, first-aid kits, basic drugs, infant necessities such as diapers, baby foods, cereals and juices; toiletries, flash lights portable battery-operated radios and water purification devices,” she outlined.
Mrs. Douglas-Greaves said that the response from overseas donors will make a “tangible and significant contribution to Jamaica’s relief efforts”.