National Agricultural Disaster Risk Management Programme Launched

Launched at the opening ceremony of the Annual Denbigh Agricultural and Industrial Show in Clarendon, on August 1, the programme, orginally initiated in May 2008 following the $3.7 billion in losses due to the passage of Hurricane Dean in 2007, will establish a structure and mechanisms in order to prepare adequately for disasters.

It will be managed by a special Disaster Management Committee comprised of representatives from the Office of Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Management ODPEM), the army, Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs), agricultural input providers, the Fisheries Division, the Jamaica Agricultural Society (JAS) and other interest groups.