Senator the Hon. Matthew Samuda, Minister Without Portfolio in the Ministry of Economic Growth and Job Creation,  today officially launched Jamaica’s Bush Fire Warning Index.

The launch of the Index, was the primary focus of World Meteorological Day activities undertaken by the Meteorological Services Division of the Ministry of Economic Growth and Job Creation.

In his address, Minister Samuda noted that the Bush Fire Warning Index, which was developed by the Meteorological Service in association with the Jamaica Fire Brigade, will act as a predictive tool in the effort to better monitor high temperatures and the outbreak of bush fires across the island.

Minister Samuda stated that the Index is critical to the effort to prevent bush fires from destroying forests, farms and the livelihoods of families across the country, noting that there is a stark and unquestionable correlation between dry weather conditions, high temperatures and the breakout of bush fires islandwide. 

“In 2014, the Rural Agricultural Development Authority reported that over 1,600 hectares of land, valued US$8.33 million, were lost or damaged due to drought and fires, with more than 16,000 farmers affected”, the Minister said.

He added that these fires currently account for 63 percent of the total number of emergency calls to the Jamaica Fire Brigade.

The Jamaica Fire Brigade, has already benefitted from desktop computers that are assisting in the management of data regarding incidences of fires, handheld GPS units for proper geo-locating of wildfires, backpack sprayers and a vehicle mounted 200-gallon skid unit for extinguishing small bush fires.

The project, also includes the use of a Common Alerting Protocol, as well as a public awareness campaign that has been named Jamaicans Against Bushfires (JAB),

“These interventions are instrumental to our efforts to become climate resilient and to convert scientific knowledge into practical guidance for our climate-sensitive sectors such as agriculture, water, health and disaster mitigation”, the Minister said.

Minister Samuda commended the Met Service and its various partners, in particular the  Caribbean Development Bank, which was instrumental in providing the grant funding from the African Caribbean and Pacific-European Union-CDB Natural Disaster Risk Management Resources, and many others, for rising to the challenge, and urged them to continue their efforts to build capacity and implement additional climate services that translate into practical actions that will benefit all Jamaicans.

World Meteorological Day is  celebrated annually on March 23 each year, which is the anniversary of the coming into force of the Convention that established the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) in 1950.  Jamaica became a member of the WMO in 1963 and joins with 193 other members to commemorate World Meteorological Day annually.

This year’s theme, “Early Warning and Early Action”, highlights the vital importance of hydrometeorological and climate information for disaster risk reduction, and the essential work being done by the WMO and the Meteorological Service in making this information available.