St. James Parish Council Hosts Hurricane Preparedness Expo

As preparations for the upcoming 2008 hurricane season intensify across the country, the St. James Parish Council will be seeking to further stimulate the public’s interest in western Jamaica, by hosting a Hurricane Preparedness Exposition on Friday, May 30, at the Montego Bay Civic Centre.
The exposition is scheduled to be carried out in collaboration with the National Commercial Bank (NCB) Foundation, according to Disaster Co-ordinator for St. James Parish Council, Amanda Thompson.
“It has been organized to offer the public access to important information relating to hurricane preparedness, while creating the opportunity for persons to interact with a number of agency representatives who will be manning several display booths at the event,” she said.
“Hurricane Disaster Week is observed throughout the first week of June annually and it is my belief, that if we want to truly prepare members of the public for any eventuality, then they ought to be invited to participate in these activities. We will commence this year’s activities with the exposition, which will be followed by a week of activities from June 1 to June 5,” Mrs. Thompson added. On Sunday, June 1, the St. James Disaster Committee will make a presentation to Shelter Managers affiliated with the Adventist Disaster Response Agency (ADRA) at the West Jamaica Conference Centre, in an effort to highlight the importance of effective preparedness and response in disaster situations. This presentation will be followed by a visit to the Bickersteth Primary School on Tuesday, June 3, in recognition of the council’s Preparedness Day for schools. Come Thursday, June 5, the Council’s activities will climax with the observation of Preparedness Day for Businesses, which will see the Disaster Committee visiting a place of business within Montego Bay, to inform its employees of best practices when making preparation for the hurricane season.
Meteorologists are stressing that the 2008 Hurricane Season promises to be a rough one, and the St. James Parish Council are taking the necessary steps to prepare citizens and residents of the parish to effectively mitigate the difficulties that usually accompany disasters.