The weather patterns continue to remind us that the hurricane season, which ends officially on November 30, has a long way to go.

We can only hope that for the remainder of this year we will be spared those tropical storms which continue to brew in the Atlantic before taking aim across the west-northwest passage towards the Caribbean.

Jamaicans need to remain on the alert, as the weather cycles continue to provoke apprehension, nervousness and severe incidents of flooding and landslides associated with the kind of heavy rains being experienced this week.

Each time a storm dissipates at sea, a colossal sigh of relief goes up around the region, as the damage and destruction experienced from successive hurricanes are not easily repaired, and never forgotten.

A case in point is the huge restoration bill left us by Hurricane Dean, estimated at some $23 billion by the Government.

The Finance Minister has announced that the administration will be providing $2.6 billion, or 37 per cent of the $7 billion public sector estimated losses, towards the recovery and reconstruction programme for the remainder of the fiscal year.

That this programme is timed over a six-month period leading into next year March, and perhaps beyond, indicates the volume and scope of work that has to be done to return this island to any semblance of a pre-'Dean' period, which itself was still bearing the ravages of 'Ivan', 'Dennis', 'Emily', and other natural disasters that have overtaken us during the last five years.

The size of the proposed expenditure also indicates that there is a huge gap to be filled.

We have to pick up the tempo. It is now over six weeks since the passage of 'Dean', but we still have a sense that what is missing is the kind of master strategy and coordination, not to speak of resources, that must be applied to accelerate decent recovery in the lifestyle of those whose social and economic livelihood was disrupted.

The Prime Minister is to be commended for the initiative of a national clean-up effort meant to encourage a joint approach of communities led by private sector and Government. That is a good effort which should be continued, but which only addresses the tip of the iceberg.

In that respect, the private sector, faced with a whopping $16 billion estimated loss on their side, and perhaps drained by election campaign contributions, should be commended for the support given to education and other areas in need of assistance that have attracted their attention.

We note that the bauxite industry has stepped up to the plate with foreign investors UC RUSAL (Russia) and HYDRO ALUMINIUM (Norway) injecting $83 million into hurricane relief for their employees and local communities, typical of the support that the industry has demonstrated over the years as responsible corporate citizens.

The private sector will no doubt continue to do their part, but the national strategists need to take up the ball and show strong evidence that a national plan with a sense of urgency and mission is at work, fully coordinated and without the piecemeal applications that have attended the present effort.

After all, November 30 is still some eight weeks away, and any further disaster this year would be a setback difficult to envisage for this country in terms of added-on impact. It really isn't over until it's over.