Holness calls for ODPEM overhaul and data-led disaster response reforms

Prime Minister Dr. Andrew Holness says Jamaica needs a sharper, better coordinated system for handling major disasters, arguing that recent emergencies have exposed gaps in how the country prepares, responds and recovers.

Speaking at a meeting of the National Disaster Council, Holness said the country must move toward a more joined-up and evidence-based resilience framework, shaped by the experience of Hurricane Melissa and other recent crises.

A central part of the reform push, he said, should be a major change in the role of the Office of Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Management. Holness said ODPEM remains a vital agency, but argued that it should be developed into a broader national resilience body with stronger links across ministries, emergency services and other response partners.

He said the agency has not been sufficiently tested for many years and suggested that this has affected its outlook and effectiveness. In his view, ODPEM now requires serious institutional attention if it is to meet the demands of modern disaster management.

Holness also again pointed to the need for a national identification system, saying it would make emergency assistance easier to deliver. He noted that Jamaicans had to register separately for support during COVID-19, after Hurricane Beryl, and again after Hurricane Melissa.

With one unique identification number connected to a national database, he said, the state could avoid repeating a slow registration process each time relief has to be distributed.

The Prime Minister further said Jamaica’s ability to respond after recent storm damage was helped by fiscal planning. He said the Government had, for the first time in many years, been able to set aside resources for a disaster and had also arranged a catastrophe bond that produced a payout.

Holness said those funds were then used in a targeted way to help restore essential public services as the recovery effort got under way.