5th National disaster management conference (NDMC)

The Office of Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Management (ODPEM) presents the 5th National Disaster Management Conference (NDMC) to be held March 6-7, 2008. In cooperation with several non-government agencies and private companies, the 2008 Conference will address two very important areas of risk management and risk reduction: slope landslides and earthquakes. These have been identified as two of the most critical subject areas in the national and regional disaster management dialogue.

2008 Conference theme will be: Furthering the Risk Reduction Agenda – Slope Instability and Earthquakes.

Landslide Risk 

Landslide hazards have been a major social, economic and environmental concern to Jamaica for years. Increase in rainfall and storm activities, changing land use and land degradation have exacerbated the incidences.

The encroachment of buildings and infrastructure on steeper and marginally stable land, clearance of land in response to continued urbanization and development and population growth have also combined to increase the probability of this hazard occurring with greater frequency. In Jamaica landslides have caused injury, death, numerous financial losses and damage and destruction to housing, infrastructure and economic facilities of varying degree. It is therefore prudent that we seek to identify and implement policies and strategies to mitigate the effects of this hazard. It is also critical that the approaches and strategies identified be sustainable.

Earthquake Risk

Since the 1907 earthquake Jamaica has perhaps only experienced three significant tremors of note: the 1957 Montego Bay, the 1993, and the 2005 earthquakes. These three events provided the emergency management agencies and Jamaica’s policy-level personnel with a number of lessons, most of which we have yet to effectively address namely: 

- The search and rescue (SAR) capability at the community level;
- The finalization of the review of the National Building Code;
- The vulnerability of the utilities and manufacturing sectors;
- The need to re-establish a national telecommunications system capable of providing communication traffic during and after major emergencies/disasters;
- The building of the capacities of the critical response agencies; and
- The awareness of the hazard among the general population.

A major goal of NDMC 2008 is to enhance the efforts of the Office of Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Management (ODPEM) in Jamaica to continue to lead in facilitating the dialogue and action towards the shift from a response driven hazard management programme to an integrated risk management approach.

The specific objectives of the conference are to:
- Facilitate the sharing of information on landslide and earthquake risks, new research, trends, emerging technologies, tools and innovations, and best practices that can be employed to reduce the risk and vulnerability to these hazards.
- Begin to foster the development of capacities in risk management, including vulnerability reduction.
- Identify and foster networks and partnerships in the area of slope stabilization and earthquake planning and management.

The conference will be organized around five key themes presented in five Sessions:

Key Themes:
- Lessons Learnt from Past Events
- Risk Assessment
- Loss Reduction Strategies
- Risk Transfer
- Response