With three months to go until the end of this year's relatively dormant hurricane season, the Office of Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Management's (ODPEM) disaster preparedness and disaster relief activities received a significant boost from the Pepsi-Cola Jamaica Limited, yesterday.

In a special handover ceremony at the Pepsi-Cola premises at 214 Spanish Town Road, ODPEM received some 32,000 gallons of purified water, to be made available in the event of any major hurricane, and 5,000 'Hurricane Precautions' booklets from the beverage company. An additional 100 cases of purified water were also contributed for inclusion in emergency kits for distribution at hurricane shelters.

Corporate disaster preparedness

Denise Dixon, marketing manager at Pepsi-Cola Jamaica, said the initiative was undertaken not only to stress the importance of corporate disaster preparedness, but to "support the efforts of the ODPEM to ensure that we all are prepared and can cope with the impact of natural disasters which we unfortunately have to face."

The contribution made to the ODPEM will be incorporated into the agency's islandwide disaster preparedness expos.

Ronald Jackson, acting director of the ODPEM, said the disasters caused by previous hurricanes had outweighed the ODPEM's resources.

"We sincerely appreciate this excellent display of corporate citizenship," he said. "This donation is critical as, after the impact of hurricanes Ivan, Dennis and Emily, the need for water in shelters and for domestic purposes surpassed what we could provide without the support of corporate Jamaica."

Mr. Jackson also said the disaster preparedness handbooks would aid in providing essential pre-preparedness information to all levels of the Jamaican population.