SSP Diaries | Future warnings

PROPERTY INSURANCE

I remember when we lived in a wooden house and my parents built a solid concrete structure in the same location subsequently. Leaving home many years later, I reflected on what my father once told me. After paying off the mortgage, he said he no longer insured the house against ‘acts of God’ as no hurricane could move this structure.

In those days, the hurricane was the greatest threat to buildings. The family had been comforted by such words. At that time, there was no climate-change worry or knowledge, but since then, things have taken a turn for the worse. With the passing of Hurricane Melissa, I have come to question even the resilience of concrete structures, and I now realise what could be as great or a greater threat than the hurricane is the earthquake. You have no warning. It can come at any time. Its destruction can be immeasurable. Our history speaks to this. We must, therefore, be wise going forward in today’s environment. All buildings should be insured at the very least for their replacement value, and this applies to all structures in our land whether privately or publicly owned. The knowledge we have today must cause us to act differently and be able to better preserve an existence as a nation.

BUILDING CODES AND APPROVED BUILDING LOCATIONS

After Hurricane Melissa, I believe that there needs to be a review of our building codes, and this should apply to all structures being erected across the length and breadth of Jamaica. Such codes must reflect the extent of our knowledge and experiences to date and the ability to enforce them.

Approved locations for building residences, commercial, public buildings, etc, need to be quickly established and legislated. Building in flood-prone areas, lands susceptible to slippage, or on riverbanks must be prohibited. Squatting is a huge problem in Jamaica requiring approved housing solutions and not ad-hoc attempts at regularisation for political expediency. A Special Committee needs to be set up, if this has not been done already, to address this matter. This is a ‘time-bomb’ waiting to explode with disastrous consequences for the economy.

FLEXIBILITY IN OPERATIONALISING RESOURCES IN DISASTERS

Hurricane Melissa showed us, once again, the folly of not having a disaster-response mechanism that is decentralised and able to deploy existing resources immediately after the blow occurred. All systems of authority are centralised in Kingston, the capital, with all decisions coming from that location. What if the path of Melissa had been like that of Gilbert? Kingston would have been devastated, with little means of providing the leadership needed in a major crisis. Decentralisation of authority should be a key consideration in shaping the policy/strategy going forward to meet the next Category 5 storm or the next serious earthquake, flood rains, etc. There isn’t any time to waste on this one. We are overdue another major earthquake, according to our experts, flooding is something that can occur at any time, and the next hurricane season starts in June 2026.

THE FATE OF FLOW IS WRITTEN ON THE WALL

FLOW is losing it as each day passes. The inability to maintain consistent Internet and Wi-Fi services over the years was made worse by the passing of Hurricane Melissa. In an era when many people can work remotely and combine relaxation/vacation with their work schedules, this provider continues to be the source of much frustration.

Their TV services leave much to be desired. There really isn’t any programming that would keep your interest over time. As a sports enthusiast, SPORTSMAX is now history; for those who enjoy good movies and information programming, PBS simply vanished from our screens without satisfactory explanation; and there are many others in this trend of declining programme value for customers. Is it that FLOW ‘pirated’ these and other productions and got caught, or is there an affordability issue? The latter cannot be an explanation. Post-Melissa recovery has seen a sharp increase in the use and availability of Elon Musk’s Starlink System, with an average acquisition cost of approximately $65K and a monthly payment of roughly $6K. Starlink provides hundreds of channels you can pick, choose, and refuse. FLOW monthly charges are much higher (I pay $15,000.00) now, and I struggle to find anything worth watching. This will not change soon as my understanding is that Digicel is not much better, if any at all.

For the exorbitant prices being charged by FLOW, it ought to be providing an exceptional service to its customer base. Sadly, this has not been my experience, and by extension, that of many Jamaicans. FLOW will have to re-examine its service strategy, improve drastically or plan for its demise in 2026.

US ATTACK ON VENEZUELA

The US has reportedly attacked Venezuela and captured President Maduro and his wife, illegally removing them from their country. In a press conference on January 3, 2026, President Trump is reported as saying that “we’re going to run the country until such time as we can do a safe, proper, and judicious transition” (POLITICO). In essence, he has forcibly taken control of one of the world’s largest-known oil deposits and is about to decide on how best to make this of benefit to America. There is no semblance of democratic action here. The region and world have reacted with its usual words of condemnation but no plan of action to stop illegal conquests. The US’s allies continue to sing Trump’s praises as they ponder which one of them might be next. History is full of such examples as much as there are of imploding empires. ‘Evil triumphs when good men remain silent.’

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