Speaking at a recent workshop in Kingston, Kareema Aitkens-Mitchell, mitigation programme officer at the Office of Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Management (ODPEM), efforts are advanced in the agriculture and fisheries and tourist industries.

Streamlining disaster risk reduction and management focuses on the strategic frameworks, sectoral strategies and policies pursued and implemented within institutional structures, which address risks emanating from natural hazards.

Citing the damage and dislocation which Jamaica sustained from Hurricane Ivan in 2004, which she said represented eight per cent of the gross domestic product, Aitkens-Mitchell stressed the importance of reducing the island's vulnerability to natural hazards.

Assessments

Noting the work which ODPEM has undertaken in the agricultural sector, she credit a May 2008 initiative as making "some strides".

"We now have a draft agriculture disaster risk management. We have also embarked on, through assistance with the Food and Agriculture Organisation, some sustainable livelihood sectors. So, some capacity and knowledge are being transferred in agriculture," she informed.

The mitigation programme officer also noted that ODPEM has "done a few" hazard and vulnerability assessments with tourism stakeholders, incorporating disaster risk management training.

"In 2007, for the first time, they (stakeholders) had their emergency operations centre up and running. The success stories coming out of that were great. They were able to manage the negative impact that Hurricane Dean had on that sector," Aitkens-Mitchell explained.