The Constitution should be amended to allow a fixed election date, factoring in matters such as the hurricane season, closeness to established national holidays and school holidays, according to Attorney-At-Law Keith Smith.

Addressing members of the executive of the association and past members of the Jamaica Constabulary Force Chapter Three in Mandeville, recently, Smith said the country could not take decisions which appear to ignore such matters and, for example, sets an election date in th of the hurricane season.

"My view is that we should visit Part Three of the Jamaican Constitution, sections 64 and 65, and amend same so that the date should be fixed to factor in matters such as the hurricane season," Smith said.

He added: "This is critical because one cannot run the risk of the electoral process, inclusive of campaigning, mobilisation of our people for voting, the actual exercise of the franchise to be thwarted by the reality of a hurricane, the destruction and weakening and dislocation of our national infrastructure, preoccupation with building and the relief of suffering, personal and national."

Smith said it was imperative that Jamaicans be made aware that they live in a disaster prone area.

He referred to the recent passage of Hurricane Dean, which served to remind Jamaicans to examine the reality of who or what they are.

"Meteorologists are predicting an active hurricane season for the next ten years," Smith said.

"We must accept the reality that hurricanes will become a part of our lives," he said. "The Caribbean region has been hit by over 100 major storms, with the first recorded one being experienced by Christopher Columbus."

Minimise squatting

At the same time, Smith told the gathering that a National Land Settlement Programme must be pursued to minimise squatting and inappropriate site occupation by, especially, the poor.

"Appropriate land ownership, or long lease, initially must be a right - the matter of building must be embraced by the National Housing Trust and the National Housing Development Corporation - like education, health and shelter must be a right," he said.

Smith also suggested that, in educating Jamaicans about the importance of its disaster zone, the Ministry of Land and Environment should be restructured and renamed, The Ministry of Disaster Preparedness, Land and Environment.

"To facilitate a rebranding since, if disaster is the focus, it will naturally support proper land and environment management."