ODPEM Reassigned to Office of the Prime Minister

Effective immediately, the Office Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Management (ODPEM) has been reassigned to the Office of the Prime Minister (OPM).

A new Director General, Commander Alvin Gayle, has also been appointed. He has been seconded from the Jamaica Defence Force (JDF) to take leadership and streamline the operations of the entity.

This was disclosed by Prime Minister, Dr. the Most Hon. Andrew Holness, in a Statement to the House of Representatives on November 4 in the aftermath of Hurricane Melissa.

He said the realignment establishes a single point for emergency logistics and further tightens coordination with relief partners.

“The new arrangement will accelerate the distribution of relief supplies in the aftermath of Hurricane Melissa, better serve the most affected communities and restore normalcy as quickly as possible,” the Prime Minister argued.

Dr. Holness said the move will ensure that the relief effort is well coordinated across the Government.

“The best place to achieve that, given the nature of the crisis and the speed with which we want the recovery, is for it to be centrally positioned in the Office of the Prime Minister, which is what the Office of the Prime Minister does, it coordinates all the entities,” he said.

He pointed out that the ODPEM is the central agency for the Government’s disaster response and work with all the critical agencies across the Government, private sector, international aid agencies and multi governments.

“It is however clear that the response to Hurricane Melissa will require significant logistics experience. It will also require significant coordination. The Jamaica Defence Force (JDF) is currently assisting with the logistics support to both ODPEM and the Ministry of Labour and Social Security, especially given the fact that many communities are situated in difficult terrain, and several have been marooned,” Dr. Holness said.

“Given the nature of the response needed for the current relief effort and the current reconstruction effort, it is important that the ODPEM and JDF have even greater levels of collaboration. As such, effective immediately the Office Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Management (ODPEM) is reassigned to the Office of the Prime Minister to strengthen logistical collaboration with the Jamaica Defence Force. The JDF is already under the Office of the Prime Minister,” he said.