St Mary preparing for natual disasters

PORT MARIA, St Mary:

FOLLOWING AN intensive two-day training course in emergency telecommunications, volunteers from throughout St Mary received certificates and shortwave radio equipment during a handover ceremony at the civic ceremony in Port Maria on Monday.

The course aimed to improve rapid response operations in the parish during natural disasters such as hurricanes, earthquakes and floods by supplying 30 volunteers with communication skills and radios that can be used in the absence of mobile phone, landline and Internet networks.

According to Nadia-Dean Ferguson, a climate change officer at the Jamaica Rural Economy and Ecosystems Adapting to Climate Change, which hosted the programme, the project will benefit communities across the parish and help build resilience against the effects of climate change.

She told Rural Xpress: "We're doing several things today, including handing over radio equipment to some very active members from communities all around St Mary to try and strengthen the parish's disaster network.

"They received shortwave radios, which they will have at their disposal in the event the telecommunication network goes down in an emergency or disaster. And they also received certificates for participating in the training course where they learned about radio protocol and the importance of their roles in disaster management."

Volunteer and president of the Red Cross's Community Disaster Emergency Response Team in Boscobel, Sharon Scott, added: "In my community of Gully Road, we are unable to receive Digicel's signal and they have no plans to erect any more poles to expand the coverage.

"The only telecommunication network we have access to is Lime, and if that goes down, we have nothing, so the training and CB radios will really help in terms of communicating during times of disaster."

integral members

Executive director of the Jamaica Cultural Development Commission, Delroy Gordon, who was guest speaker at the handover ceremony, noted the volunteers work would be integral in supporting agencies such as the Office of Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Management in mobilising and evacuating people during natural disasters.

He said: "We know how important communication is, particularly in times of disaster, and we know the telecommunication devices we use are susceptible during natural disasters. So having free-to-air radio for the people here is very important and will really go a long way in assisting them in terms of disaster mitigation."

Gordon hailed the volunteers as patriots of the highest order as they were operating at a time when Jamaicans have generally become more selfish and less caring. He said: "There have been changes in our norms, behaviour and values.

"We were a people who were very neighbourly and looked out for each other, but now people will be trying to see how much they can rip off of others, rather than lending a helping hand.

"So when you have a group of people who are volunteering their time to assist the disaster agencies and ensure the communication flow happens in the event of a natural disaster, that is a change in the right direction and I think it is going back to the kind of culture we're accustomed to."

rural@gleanerjm.com