Natural Disasters And The Effect On The Economy

Natural disasters have a dire impact on the World Economy and Jamaica needs to practice disaster risk reduction to combat the effects from a global perspective.

That’s the word from the Acting Director General of the Office of Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Management, Richard Thompson,who says there were over 300 natural disasters globally in 2018.

“Over 68 million people were impacted and damages resulted in over US 131 billion dollars. That is significant for the World Economy. Given the advent of climate change, we have been having extreme temperature conditions and alot of drought related events,” Thompson shared.

Thompson notes that Jamaica’s vulnerability to natural disasters means that successive governments must plan ahead to reduce the impact.

“You realise that these events would have been eroding the economic gains that the country would have made. When you look at us in Jamaica, we are susceptible to these events,” he added.

In July 2020, Jamaica will be hosting the Seventh Regional Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction in the Americas and the Caribbean under the theme: Building Resilient Economies in the Americas and the Caribbean.

Local Government and Community Development Minister, Desmond Mckenzie says the forum will now raise greater awareness for the region.

KHADIJAH THOMAS