MBCCI’s Russell bats for hurricane-resilient buildings

WESTERN BUREAU:

Jason Russell, president of the Montego Bay Chamber of Commerce and Industry, says that rather than investing in large, stand-alone storage facilities, which may sit idle between disasters, investing in storm-resilient public infrastructure such as concrete-roofed schools, hospitals and government buildings would be a better option.

In fact, in speaking to a smarter national approach to disaster preparedness, Russell said expecting the private sector or the Government to maintain massive, unused warehouse space solely for emergency storage is neither practical nor cost-effective.

“It would be difficult to demand or expect that there is an idle storage capacity; that somebody would build enough storage to sit idle, waiting on a disaster,” said Russell, who further argued that disaster planning should be embedded into everyday infrastructure, particularly facilities that already serve as emergency shelters and continuity hubs.

“For argument’s sake, all schools should have a concrete roof, a water storage tank and a generator,” he said. “They tend to be the go-to for shelters and continuity, and we should not be building any government institution, school or hospital without a concrete roof.”

Russell also pointed to the strength and responsiveness of Jamaica’s private sector in recent recovery efforts, noting that commercial districts often absorb much of the logistical burden after major storms.

“The private sector in Jamaica is very robust, our commercial districts are very strong and usually will facilitate most of the recovery efforts,” he said.

Russell went on to question the efficiency of centralised storage models, arguing that logistics through the ports may offer a more practical solution.

“Most of the things we get are in containers. Getting everything to one central location still means unloading and reloading to distribute. You might even find it more prudent for a container to come in and go straight to Bethel Town, in Westmoreland, than to create a facility just for storage,” he said.

Russell said existing multi-purpose facilities have already demonstrated their value during recent emergency responses, citing the Montego Bay Convention Centre.

“We used the Montego Bay Convention Centre. World Central Kitchen (WCK) used it to prepare meals and store a lot of their supplies,” he noted, referencing the facility’s location which has helped the WCK to provide and distribute meals to affected people who survived Hurricane Melissa and its Category 5 winds.

Russell stressed that long-term resilience depends on thoughtful planning, rather than reactive construction.

“I think there are a lot of other things we can look at that would be prudent in preparing for a storm,” he said.

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