St. James Municipal Corporation Instituting Ongoing Disaster Mitigation Measures

Mayor of Montego Bay, Councillor Homer Davis, says the St. James Municipal Corporation continues to institute measures to mitigate the impact of natural disasters on the parish’s infrastructure.

Councillor Davis, who chairs the Corporation, emphasized that disaster risk management is critical to sustainable development and, as such, the entity has been implementing systems on an ongoing basis to strengthen St. James’ resilience to any serious damage that can result from disasters.

He pointed out that flood mitigation systems have been put in place. These, he informed, include flood gauges in areas of Montego Bay prone to flooding “to alert the citizens when water is rising”.

The Mayor was speaking at a business continuity seminar on disaster management, hosted by the Municipal Corporation at the Montego Bay Cultural Centre on March 6.

Councillor Davis also advised that emergency shelters across St. James have been inspected to ensure they are in a state of readiness for the upcoming hurricane season.

Additionally, he said shelter managers have been trained and the requisite equipment procured for use at shelters.

Meanwhile, the Mayor is imploring the business community to take a proactive approach to disaster preparedness.

He also encourages business owners to establish disaster risk management plans, noting that these can potentially ensure quick recovery of operations in the event of a natural disaster.

“Managing these risks has to be a conscious decision for us, as a people. We can’t say it [natural disaster] won’t happen to us because it has been happening elsewhere. So as a business community, we have to ensure we take the necessary proactive action,” Councillor Davis emphasized.