The Caribbean must bridge existing fundamental gaps if it is to effectively address the challenges in relation to waste and water management, particularly when disaster strikes.
Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency (CDEMA) Executive Director Ronald Jackson noted that threats like hurricanes were not new to the Region, but there has not been comprehensive planning.
Some of the attendees at the CWWA day two plenary discussion
“We’ve not sat down and tackled the fundamental gap that will change the dimensions of how we plan…,” Jackson noted.
He was part of a panel discussion on the second day of the Caribbean Water and Wastewater Association (CWWA) conference hosted at the Marriott Hotel in Kingston, Georgetown. According to the Department of Public Information, the panel examined innovative and creative ways to manage water and waste resources when disaster strikes.
“The absence of information, risk-informed tools to be able to make decisions and develop our contingency plans – that’s the missing elements,” Jackson noted. He also said a lack of resources also posed a challenge to disaster response as it related to water management.
“I don’t think there is a shortage of thinking, of personnel in the Region, of capabilities that can be thrown at the problem. It really came down to resources as the major in the response overall.”
At the national level, Jackson noted there was a need to better understand the risk in the environment.
Apart from these, the Region must also examine better “build-back methods”, including rainwater harvesting and Public Sector storage in the aftermath of disasters.
