Delroy Chuck
HURRICANE IVAN dealt Jamaica another devastating blow. We were already on the edge, overwhelmed with social challenges, teetering with economic disaster, and now Hurricane Ivan further challenges our national will, collective energy and creative effort. The process of reconstruction will decide whether we slip further or pull back to secure Jamaica's future.
Taken in its true prospective, we did not suffer the devastation that Hurricane Gilbert inflicted. The eye and full impact of Gilbert hit us, for a shorter time, and destroyed many more houses, businesses and utility poles. After Gilbert, most of the public electricity and other utilities were out for months. Fortunately, after Ivan, most of the utility poles remain intact, telephones are working and electricity should be fully restored shortly. In Kingston and St. Andrew, and I suspect most of the major towns, some homes suffered significant damage but for most buildings there was only minor damage, minimal dislocations and, hopefully, things should be back to normal for most Jamaicans.
TOTAL DESTRUCTION
On the other hand, the reports from the rural towns and districts are not good; in fact, in some communities, it is total destruction. Agricultural crops are gone, houses badly destroyed, roads impassable, lives lost and, for many, the reconstruction process will take years. The major challenge facing the Government, political representatives and relief organisations is to distinguish between persons who suffered hurricane damage from those who were already living on the edge. Within the inner cities and rural towns, virtually everyone is in need, some in desperate need, and will seek to take advantage of the hurricane disaster. So many Jamaicans were living from hand to mouth that hurricane supply is a welcome relief to their plight. Food, water, shelter and household supplies are in great demand and the available supply will never be enough.
STRUCTURAL DAMAGE
Already, many districts and communities are on the brink, and it won't be long before tempers flare, conflicts and violence erupt. As I walk in pockets of the inner cities, examine the flood damage and notice what structural damage has occurred, it becomes clear to me that virtually every resident is in need of some assistance. Many residents are without jobs or means of subsistence and can barely help themselves. Very few wholesome and self-contained homes exist. If food is to be distributed, no home could do without. If zinc, lumber, plywood or building material is available, every house or shack is in need.
Everyone has suffered some damage, however minor, from Hurricane Ivan and pleads for assistance. Some argue that if assistance and donation of zinc, lumber and other building material were given before, they would have been spared the flooding and damage to their rooms and furniture. Now, they seek assistance that, they argue, must be forthcoming after the hurricane.
I welcome the selection of Danville Walker to manage the process of reconstruction. Sadly, government agencies have been too slow and tardy to deal with relief and rehabilitation. One can only hope that this newly created Office of National Reconstruct-ion will get to the needy, and not the greedy, in the shortest possible time. I would strongly urge Mr. Walker to work closely with the political representatives, the churches and social agencies that are directly connected with the people. When people are in need, hungry and desperate, it is the political representatives who get the brunt of the blame, harassment and demands.
DESPERATE CASES
At this time, it is imperative that some funds be made available, even from the designated SESP allocations, for the political representatives to deal with the urgent needs and desperate cases, to cool tensions and avoid further inconvenience and hardships. Another great concern is the need for repairs to the country's infrastructure, especially the roads, gullies and bridges. In the mountainous areas of the country, landslides have blocked off whole communities, threaten further devastation and endanger property and lives. Many roads have been simply washed away and become impassable or barely allow one lane of traffic. Gully banks have broken and homes are in danger of further erosion.
Even though some remedial action is needed to avoid further landslides and soil erosion, I strongly urge that we get it right before spending many millions of dollars. I believe unless proper drainage and sound engineering structures are put in place, we would ultimately waste billions of dollars. In the process of reconstruction, we should so manage that we can avoid the next disaster. To be sure, we must cater to the immediate needs of the people to avoid a social explosion. However, let us get the best engineering advice before we fix the roads, gullies and bridges and ensure that the money is well spent instead of a mere stopgap until the next flooding occurs.
I can only hope that the Office of National Reconstruction can take aboard and respond to the many cries for assistance, reject the greedy and help the needy, direct government agencies to the most desperate cases and co-ordinate the many relief agencies I daresay it is daunting task but it must be done.
Delroy Chuck is an attorney-at-law and Opposition Member of Parliament. He can be contacted by email at Delchuck@Hotmail.Com.