Gov’t failure is not proof that NaRRA was necessary, PNPYO slams G2K

KINGSTON, Jamaica — The People’s National Party Youth Organisation (PNPYO) is dismissing what it says is Generation 2000's (G2K) attempt to use the prolonged disruption of Jamaica's schools since Hurricane Melissa to justify the National Reconstruction and Resilience Authority (NaRRA). Describing it as an insult to the intelligence of the Jamaican people, the PNPYO said Government failure does not prove that a new authority was needed but that existing institutions were not properly organised, resourced and mobilised. The PNPYO cited the Comprehensive Disaster Management framework of the Office of Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Management (ODPEM) which it said defines recovery as including the restoration of basic services and the repair of physical, social and economic damage.

It noted that ODPEM’s preparedness framework contemplates planning, organising, training, inter-agency coordination, resource allocation and testing plans before disasters occur. “The facts undercut G2K's argument. The National Disaster Risk Management Council (NDRMC) has moved away from ceremonial routines toward practical response reform. It held a Regional After Action Review with CDEMA and ODPEM in Kingston from March 10 to 12, examining the response and identifying operational gaps, then on May 13 a Strategic Working Session led by ODPEM Director General Commander Alvin Gayle converted those findings into action items, including parish-level shelter management,” the PNPYO noted. It is urging G2k to explain why no school repair plan emerged if the sessions happened six and eight months ago. “To complain eleven months after a hurricane that NaRRA was needed to "get things…