Andrew Smith, Photography Editor
Jeremy Collymore (left), coordinator at the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Response Agency (CDERA), speaks with Mick Day (second left), of the Department of Geography, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee; Duncan McGregor (second right), of Royal Holloway College, University of London and Eleanor Jones, of Environmental Solutions Limited, before the start of the conference on 'Global Change and Caribbean Vulnerability: Environment, Economy and Society at Risk?' at the University of the West Indies, Mona campus, yesterday. The conference is organised by the Department of Geography & Geology, UWI, Mona; Climate Change Research Group & Developing Areas Research Group of the Royal Geographical Society/Institute of British Geographers. it continues until Friday. - Andrew Smith/Photography Editor
Caribbean governments must make more use of local knowledge when it comes to disaster planning, says Franklin McDonald, director of the Institute of Sustainable Development at the University of the West Indies (UWI), Mona.
Mr. McDonald said yesterday that this was especially necessary in light of the fact that, in the Caribbean "we occupy an extremely fragile system, (but) decision makers don't appreciate how fragile."
He was speaking at the conference on 'Global Change and Caribbean Vulnerability: Environment, Economy and Society at Risk?' at the UWI.
Using the widespread Caribbean example of placing concrete blocks on the top of zinc roofs to prevent the roofs from being blown off during hurricanes, Mr. McDonald explained that this made excellent sense because the blocks created turbulence which disrupted the force of the hurricane's winds. Yet, before the arrival of Hurricane Ivan in 2004, announcements were made over the radio advising persons not to place blocks on roofs.
This was further endorsed by Duncan McGregor, of Royal Holloway College, University of London, who said "local people can contribute to decision making in advance."
The conference is organised by the Department of Geography and Geology, UWI, Mona; Climate Change Research Group and Developing Areas Research Group of the Royal Geographical Society/Institute of British Geographers. It will continue until Friday.
