Barbados, Feb 18, 2005 (CDERA) – A study released by the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Response Agency (CDERA) today shows that some Caribbean countries are not fully utilising disaster loss reduction tools available to them.
The study has made a number of recommendations which if implemented could help in reducing the loss a country suffers as a result of a disaster.
“Study of Hazard Maps, Vulnerability Assessments, and Digital Maps in the Caribbean: Final Report” officially released today, was commissioned by CDERA as an important first step for knowing the status of these tools and to compile a database of relevant information and materials.
Vulnerability assessments and hazard mapping are, as emphasized at the just ended World Conference on Disaster Reduction in Kobe, important as the starting point of any activity for disaster loss reduction.
The study, conducted in 20 English-, French-, and Spanish-speaking Caribbean states, revealed that a number of hazard maps were available across the region but few countries were maximizing the use of them. In fact, only in Martinique and Puerto Rico are the use of vulnerability assessments in the planning process legally enforced.
Fourteen recommendations have been made as a result of findings of the study which if implemented would help Caribbean states to reduce the loss from future disaster events.
Some of the recommendations are:
- a. An urgent need to upgrade the infrastructure of National Disaster Offices so as to ensure that the use of hazard maps is fully integrated into their routine activities;
- Designation of a national agency as the repository of hazard mapping, vulnerability assessment studies and digital mapping data;
- Encouragement of the use of hazard mapping, vulnerability assessment studies in development-related activities;
- A more user-centred approach to the production and dissemination of hazard maps should be pursued as a matter of urgency;
- Adequate funding for the building of capacity in disaster mitigation. This would ensure a reduction of loss of life, property and the biophysical environment. The current disaster-trigger approach and reliance on external funding cannot adequately be used to support the long-term nature of the effects of natural hazards in the region;
- Designation of a national coordinating body charged with the responsibility to specify, monitor and coordinate activities relating to hazard mapping, vulnerability assessment studies and digital mapping data production;
- Involvement of the National Disaster Office in every hazard mapping and vulnerability assessment study to be undertaken.
Head of the Japan International Cooperation Agency(JICA) team based at CDERA in Barbados, Hidetomi Oi, said that the study also revealed that there were still a number of high risk areas in the region which were not properly mapped and in light of the urgency given by the Kobe Conference, vulnerability assessments and hazard mapping will be pursued with a high priority in the coming decade in the Caribbean. He hoped that the output of the study would be used widely as a common asset of all disaster organizations in the region.
The study was conducted by the Centre for Geospatial Studies, Faculty of Engineering
The University of the West Indies, St. Augustine, Trinidad and Tobago. It was funded by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA). JICA is funding the Caribbean Disaster Management (CADM) Project and CIDA is funding the Caribbean Hazard Mitigation Capacity Building Programme (CHAMP). Both projects are being implemented by CDERA.
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COUNTRY REPORTS:
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION, CONTACT:
Liz Riley
CHAMP Programme Manager
Tel: (246) 425-0386
Email: cdera@caribsurf.com
Andria Grosvenor
CADM Programme Manager
Tel: (246) 425-0386
Email: cdera@caribsurf.com
Terry Ally
Information Specialist, CDERA
Tel: (246) 425-0388
Email: pubinfo@cdera.org
