Project to Enhance Country’s Resilience to Disasters Gets $868 Million

The Government has provided $868.4 million towards the Jamaica Disaster Vulnerability Reduction Project, to enhance the country’s resilience to disasters and climate risk.

The money has been provided in the 2023/24 Estimates of Expenditure, now before the House of Representatives.

For the upcoming fiscal year, the project seeks to commence coastal protection works in Annotto Bay, St. Mary; continue works on and around the Big Pond/Myton Gully drain; and facilitate training on the new building codes by institutions such as HEART/ NSTA Trust, Management Institute for National Development (MIND) and the University of Technology (UTech), Jamaica.

The project also seeks to complete a three-year research fellowship (Seismology); and complete the National Risk Information Platform (NRIP), microzonation study and coastal assessments.

Achievements up to December 2022 included infrastructure works and equipping of the seismic support unit at the University of the West Indies completed, civil works on two box culverts (Church Pen 1 and 2) completed, and two water trucks procured and delivered to the Jamaica Fire Brigade.

Other achievements included construction of the Montego Bay Fire Station, Yallahs Fire Station and Port Maria Fire Station; Port Royal Street coastal protection works completed; and Ecosystems Assessment Report and drafts of the revised Jamaica Fire Code (JFC) and Jamaica Building Code (JBC) completed.

The project is being implemented by the Jamaica Social Investment Fund (JSIF), with funding from the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) and the Government of Jamaica.