assessment of the socio-economic and environmental impact

3. Recommendations
Based on the experience with Hurricane Dean and previous events, it is evident that steps are
urgently needed to reduce vulnerability of housing, coastal infrastructure, the agriculture sector;
and threats to livelihood.
Some of the measures required include:
i. A review of standards to reduce the vulnerability of housing developments to
hurricane. These stakeholders include ODPEM, NEPA, Water Resources Authority,
National Housing Trust, National Housing Development Corporation, Construction
Resource and Development Centre.
ii. A review of coastal setback on an on-going basis. Developers must be made to
conform to approved standards.
iii. Improvements in enforcement of building regulations while taking into consideration
the need for affordable housing and the capacity required for carrying out
enforcement.
iv. The provision of training in appropriate building techniques for the buildings
v. Implementation of a programme of retrofitting for housing, incorporating hurricane
resistant techniques.
vi. Assessment of the impact of storm events on coastal ecosystems with a view to
designing rehabilitation strategies.
vii. Development of best management practices to address the vulnerability of specific
coastal areas such as the Palisadoes Road, St. Andrew, Roselle, St. Thomas and
Manchioneal, Portland; and
viii. Development and implementation of a structured hazard mapping programme.
ix. The development of affordable risk transfer mechanisms to reduce the burden on
government at the answer of last resort.
Below is a list of suggested projects to address some of the issues highlighted by this recent
event.
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