Tyrone Reid, Staff Reporter
CITING WIDESPREAD vandalism, the Government has reiterated its intention to stop using schools as shelters during natural disasters.
Dean Peart, Minister of Land and Environment, disclosed this during the opening ceremony of a regional workshop on improving response to natural disasters. This is being staged by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Response Agency (CDERA) under the theme 'Beyond 2004 Events'.
"My government continues to be concerned about the use of schools as shelters and the resulting inconvenience to children," Minister Peart said while addressing the well attended regional review meeting at the Jamaica Pegasus Hotel in New Kingston yesterday.
"We find people using the schools as shelters and are burning the desk and chairs and we want to move away from that," Minister Peart added.
Mr. Peart informed the experts at the gathering that his administration is open for suggestions in finding suitable alternatives.
"We now look to your group for some suggestions on how to improve this situation".
IT WOULD NOT HAPPEN OVERNIGHT
While expressing the government's desire to stop using the schools as shelters, Mr. Peart confessed that it would not happen overnight.
"We can't stop (right now) because in every community we have to have a shelter. We are looking at establishing community centres but that is going to take a little time," he said.
In the interim, Minister Peart said that the Government would be looking to reinforce the structures of the schools, especially the roofs so that they can withstand the fierce hurricane winds.
The workshop, which culminates today, serves as a forum for environmental and emergency response professionals throughout the Caribbean to examine preparedness and response to natural hazards and disasters.
Approximately 150 participants from 25 countries will be reviewing the lessons learned from last year's active hurricane season, where four hurricanes resulted in excess of US$5 billion in damage.
The outcomes of the forum, including assessments, will be incorporated into a publication. The other primary supporters of the workshop are the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA), the United Kingdom's Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).
