PM Urges Jamaicans to Stay Positive

Prime Minister, Dr. the Most Hon. Andrew Holness, is encouraging Jamaicans to remain positive as the nation prepares for the impact of category five hurricane Melissa.

The system is expected to make landfall early Tuesday (October 28) as a powerful system bringing strong winds, heavy rainfall over the entire country, causing flooding and landslides.

“Category five would be a really bad disaster but what I don’t want is for Jamaicans to get into a depression that it would be the end of the world; what I want you to always be is positive in your outlook and that even if the worst comes, we will be able to recover; that’s the position,” he said.

The Prime Minister was responding to a question posed during a press briefing at the National Emergency Operations Centre (NEOC) at the Office of Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Management (ODPEM) in Kingston on October 27.

He reminded citizens that preparation lessens the damage associated with hurricanes and makes the recovery easier.

“A category five hurricane will definitely damage roofs, it will definitely compromise infrastructure even concrete infrastructure, it will scour roads, it will destroy agriculture and vegetation. No doubt, it will impact our ports and airports; there is no question about that. However, if you didn’t take precautions to clear the drains and … to move people to safety, then the damage is compounded, and that is why we emphasise preparation because preparation lessens the damage and it makes the recovery that much easier.

Regarding the distributive trade, he informed that the country has supplies for at least 12 weeks, and Petrojam has indicated that it has approximately 10 days of supplies of refined products “that could carry us after the hurricane has hit”.

He said Jamaicans can rest assured that “everything that needs to be done for the provision and preparation of a response to the disaster is done”.

“We are already now thinking about the second phase, which is the relief phase and then we will move into the recovery and then we will move into rebuilding depending on the extent of the damage,” he said.