‘Not a good move’

A leading disaster-mitigation specialist and a social-development specialist have both cautioned against placing the Office of Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Management (ODPEM) under the jurisdiction of the Office of the Prime Minister (OPM), arguing that it was “not a good move”.

In a statement to Parliament on Tuesday, Prime Minister Dr Andrew Holness announced the change, contending that the realignment would establish a single point for emergency logistics and further tighten coordination with relief partners.

With the change comes the appointment of Jamaica Defence Force (JDF) Commander Alvin Gayle as director general of the ODPEM, while the former acting head, Richard Thompson, has now been reassigned to the OPM to assist in the establishment of strategic frameworks and systems for national relief and recovery efforts.

Speaking yesterday on Radio Jamaica’s Beyond The Headlines with host Dionne Jackson Miller, mitigation specialist Dr Barbara Carby expressed surprise at the management change at the ODPEM in the middle of the response to the disaster caused by Hurricane Melissa.

Carby, A former ODPEM director general, said that based on the prime minister’s comments in relation to the management change, the reasons are not convincing or logical.

“Based on what the prime minister has said, I see no reason to move it,” she insisted, adding that there was already a single point for coordination – the National Emergency Coordination Centre. She noted that in all emergency-management doctrine, the emergency operation centre is the point from which all response is coordinated.

She said the national emergency operation centre has a space for the policy as well as the operational levels.

“It allows ease of communication between operation and policy level, so I am not sure why this realignment is going to change that.”

Further, Carby reasoned that from an operational point of view, the person in charge of the national emergency centre should have full authority and be able to correct persons if they make errors or do something wrong.

With the prime minister leading the charge, Carby questioned whether the head of the national emergency centre would have the courage to “speak up”.

She added: “You run the risk of mixing up politics with operation.”

At a Jamaica House press briefing yesterday, the prime minister conceded that the capability and prominence of the ODPEM had waned over time.

One of the factors contributing to that, he said, was the level at which the executive management was compensated, noting that the agency had not yet completed the process of compensation review.

He said the ODPEM’s preparation for Hurricane Melissa went well.

“Even with not having the strongest executive leadership, we were still able to mount a credible preparation,” he added.

However, he said the Government’s initial relief phase started out slowly.

Holness said Hurricane Beryl, in July last year, exposed some weaknesses at the ODPEM, and as such, the OPM ordered a review of the entire management response of the Government.

Commenting on whether the ODPEM had the capability to respond to a disaster of the magnitude of Melissa, Holness said he saw weaknesses and gaps “and some spaces that need to be filled”.

At the same time, Dr Peta-Anne Baker, social-development specialist, said the public servants at the ODPEM had been used as scapegoats.

Notwithstanding the fact that Jamaica is a highly vulnerable island to natural disasters, Baker said there appeared to have been no urgency in working out the salary arrangements and review of job descriptions at the agency to facilitate the purported level of staff that was required.

“I am so offended. My heart breaks for the public servants who work in that organisation,” she commented while speaking with Jackson Miller.

“I am ashamed for my country that we can take senior civil servants who have dedicated their lives to the service of this country and treat them that way in the public domain,” she added.

One of the key findings of a December 2, 2024, Auditor General’s Department’s performance audit of the ODPEM states that recruitment challenges and a high staff turnover impacted the agency’s capacity to deliver effective disaster preparedness and emergency management.

edmond.campbell@gleanerjm.com