Risk Reduction – Part 1

Each year we worry about the effect that hurricanes or heavy rain can have on our fragile economy.  A major storm this year could negatively impact our expected growth target.  Yet each year we hear the same story, that is, the drains have not been cleaned.

One of the points of good business practice that I keep emphasizing is the need to plan.  This is true of governing a country and a country that fails to plan will reap major consequences.  Each year we get a budget presented in parliament but these budgets never include a specific plan of what is to be achieved and how it will be accomplished.  The office of disaster preparation and emergency management (ODPEM) has recently stated that they would like to change their theme from disaster preparedness to risk reduction.  The idea conveyed is that instead of waiting on a disaster we should attempt to reduce the risk of one happening.  If that is the case then how can one justify not cleaning the drains.  This is one of the easiest ways to mitigate against disasters and is far cheaper than the cost of cleaning up after the event.  It seems that we refuse to learn the lesson to put sufficient money in the budget to deal with this issue.  In addition some of these gullies need a permanent fix as opposed to these temporary fixes.  It is time that we get more serious about risk reduction if we ever hope to improve our financial situation.

Not all of the blame for this problem can be placed at the feet of the government.  Communities need to play their part as well by refraining from throwing garbage into the gullies.  It is hypocritical to litter the gully and then to complain that the government has not cleaned it when one’s house is flooded.  There is a need to recognize that there are insufficient funds to do all of the work needed.  As communities we can therefore help ourselves by assisting in the process by firstly not throwing garbage into the gullies and secondly by making efforts to clean the gully in our area.  We may not be able to stop all floods but we can certainly reduce the number of floods that occur. 

Rather than waiting until the situation is critical let us deal with our gullies on a monthly basis.  This makes the task more manageable and ensures that we are ready at all times of year.  Waiting until hurricane season comes around to start is too late to begin.  Take a lesson from the National Water Commission who does not wait for the reservoir to become dry to effect water restrictions.  Instead once the weather situation becomes dry they immediately restrict water to ensure that there are sufficient supplies for the future.  If risk reduction is the future way to go then we have to do things differently.