Minister of Local Government and Community Development Desmond McKenzie today (July 10) awarded the Government of Jamaica high marks for its post-Hurricane Beryl response.

The minister was providing an answer during Wednesday’s post-Cabinet press briefing for how he thinks the Government could fine-tune its disaster relief and response efforts in the aftermath of the weather system and in preparing for similar disasters.

While noting that the Government will find it difficult to plan for a disaster, McKenzie shared that the authorities will seek to learn from the experience for future reference.

“But what we can look at [are] the systems that work, and if you asked me how much of the systems works, I would say nine out of 10 of what we put in place worked. So we will improve on that,” he outlined.

Commenting on what can be improved, the local government minister pointed to the authorities’ public education efforts, though he said it was not lacking. McKenzie asserted that the GOJ can improve how it educates and encourages citizens, adding that Jamaicans should also take personal responsibility for their safety and security.

McKenzie also commended mayors and councillors for being “proactive”, pointing out their involvement in addressing the needs of the homeless, drain-cleaning programmes, and keeping shelters open.

In his update during the briefing, the local government minister divulged that some 10 shelters remain open with over 100 people still present.

“We will not be deactivating a number of shelters until we are in a better position to make a determination as to what we are going to do with those persons,” he added, noting that his portfolio ministry will be working with the Ministry of Labour and Social Security to ensure the needs of the sheltered are met.

McKenzie also pointed out that residents at the St Ann Infirmary had to be transferred to a shelter due to damages sustained during the hurricane. Other infirmaries that experienced damage were Westmoreland, Hanover, Trelawny and St Elizabeth.

“It is important that the country recognise that the reason why we have been able to respond in such an effective way, is because of the collective response of Government…in responding to the needs of persons who were badly affected in various communities across the country,” he explained.

The minister credited this to the Japan International Cooperation Agency communication apparatus, the Disaster Emergency Communication System, which is being implemented along with the Office of Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Management. The system is geared towards enhancing emergency communication in Jamaica during times of crisis.

Also commenting on the Government’s response, de facto Information Minister Dana Morris Dixon had a slightly different outlook. Although she commended the GOJ for employing some of the strategies developed during the COVID-19 pandemic, she highlighted the limited use of technology.

“I think one of the things we’re going to have to look at is definitely in terms of technology; how we use that technology more. One of the things that has hampered a lot of our work as Government has been [due to] the lack of communication and the coverage from our partners, and we are speaking, as you know, to Digicel and Flow,” she said.

Senator Morris Dixon pointed out that the impact on electrical infrastructure led to the disruption in telecommunications. As such, she urged the telecoms providers to consider alternate energy sources to power their networks as a form of redundancy.

The information minister added there are offers from overseas to assist with mobile units that can help in cases of loss of connectivity.

“So there are some key lessons that we’ve learned and especially [on] just making the system more robust because, as you saw, Hurricane Beryl was offshore, and just look at the damage,” Morris Dixon stated.

During the briefing, the senator outlined that the Government has donated over 6,000 care packages across Jamaica. Each care package can feed a family of four for four days. So far 2,000 household assessments have been conducted.