Auditor General’s Department sets eyes on ODPEM
Published:Friday | November 24, 2023 | 12:11 AM
The Auditor General’s Department has placed the spotlight on the Office of Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Management (ODPEM) as it conducts a performance audit of the public body to determine whether it is effectively managing its resources to reduce the impact of disasters and emergencies on the Jamaican population and economy.
Jamaica’s ‘Vision 2030’ National Development Plan calls for the development and implementation of strategies and actions towards ‘Hazard Risk Reduction and Adaptation to Climate Change’.
The national strategies, as set out in Vision 2030, are to improve resilience to all forms of hazards, improve emergency response capability, develop measures to adapt to climate change, and contribute to the effort to reduce the global rate of climate change.
Institutionally, the National Disaster Risk Management Council is responsible for overall coordination of disaster management activities in Jamaica.
The ODPEM, which is a statutory body under the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development, acts as the secretariat for the council and is the agency with overarching responsibility for disaster risk management.
Section 4 of the ODPEM Act states that the organisation is mandated to advance disaster preparedness and emergency management measures in Jamaica by facilitating and coordinating the development and implementation of integrated management systems.
The Auditor General’s Department states that the ODPEM’s mandate is also aligned to rhe Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 13, which promotes the taking of urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts.
Given Jamaica’s geographic location and its geology, the Auditor General’s Department observes that the country is vulnerable to several types of natural disasters, including hurricanes, floods and earthquakes.
The department notes that, in recent years, these risks have been heightened because of climate change and are evident in rising sea-levels, erosion of coastal zones, flooding of coastal areas, coral reef destruction, and the spread of vector-borne diseases.
Performance auditing is an independent, objective and reliable examination of whether government undertakings, systems, operations, programmes, activities or organisations are operating in accordance with the principles of economy, efficiency and effectiveness, and whether there is room for improvement.
In the wake of the 5.6 earthquake which rocked Jamaica on October 30, the ODPEM was strongly criticised by many commentators for failing to communicate with the public up to six hours after the earthquake.
The disaster response agency was also criticised by one lawmaker, who claimed that the last annual report submitted to Cabinet by the agency was for 2015-2016.
The audit, which is expected to zoom in on resource management and governance, is scheduled for publication within the January-to-March fourth quarter of the current fiscal year.