Finance ministry drafting natural disaster response policy

Finance and the Public Service Minister Dr Clarke has indicated that the Ministry is drafting a Public Financial Management for Disaster Risk Policy and Framework for submission to Cabinet.

Addressing the Private Sector Organisation of Jamaica (PSOJ) annual economic forum at The Jamaica Pegasus hotel in New Kingston on Thursday, Clarke said the policy aims to strengthen Jamaica’s response to natural disasters through a streamlined national approach that will, as best as possible, facilitate the availability of dedicated resources for recovery.

Clarke further said that the policy will be tabled in Parliament following Cabinet’s deliberations, and emphasised that the Government wants to “ensure that we have consensus [through a national approach] because natural disasters affect us all”.

He said that Jamaica and other Caribbean countries are vulnerable to natural disasters, citing Sunday’s 4.6 magnitude earthquake that shook sections of the island.

Additionally, he said natural disasters can overwhelm public resources and potentially set small countries back “for years”.

Clarke said Jamaica has undergone and sacrificed too much in the quest to reduce debt, attain fiscal stability and exit a programme relationship with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), to risk facing the potential threats and risks posed by natural disasters, without having adequate safeguards in place.

These, he noted, have been “tremendous” over the last several years.

They include contingent credit claims and catastrophe bonds, which the finance minister said have ensured the availability of funding and other resources to alleviate resulting dislocation and inconveniences.

“Clearly, there is no [contingency] that can insulate us 100 per cent from all risks for all times… but we must begin [somewhere]… and as our fiscal space opens up, we can take on more and more protection,” he added.

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