Cayman Islands Must Put Better Disaster Management Systems In Place

by Amanda Banks, Tax-News.com, London

20 December 2004

A disaster recovery expert has called on the governmental and private sector organisations of the Cayman Islands to take a more coordinated approach to disaster planning, so that the jurisdiction can be better prepared for natural disasters such as Hurricane Ivan.

“More training, planning, risk analysis and preparedness need to take place, but all this action cannot be undertaken in a vacuum and needs to be conducted in an environment that promotes public/private partnerships,” remarked James Lee Witt, Chairman of disaster recovery firm James Lee Witt & Associates, during a closing speech at the recent Cayman Captive Forum 2004.

According to a Cayman Net News report, Mr Witt argued for a separate government agency to be established in the Caymans which should be given the specific role of coordinating emergency management, warning that the absence of such an agency prolongs the recovery effort and exacerbates economic losses.

Calling for a thorough examination of emergency management and contingency planning, Mr Witt noted that the Caymans are particularly reliant on the Miami ports for bringing resources and materials into the territory, and suggested that plans should be put in place against the event that hurricane activity puts these ports out of action.

However, Mark Merritt, Senior Vice President of James Lee Witt & Associates praised the private sector for its part in the post-Ivan recovery process.

“Usually it is Government that takes the lead, dragging the private sector along with it in terms of recovery efforts, but here in Cayman the private sector has taken the lead,” he observed.

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