Jamaica is still paradise.
The sun shines most of the year.
We remain the jewel of the Caribbean.
People from all over the world are drawn here, invest here, settle here.
But paradise comes with a price.
We are a small island sitting on a geological fault line. We live in the hurricane belt. These realities are not new—Gilbert didn’t introduce us to hurricanes, and the earth tremors of recent years didn’t suddenly reveal seismic activity.
Florida faces the same risks. Yet people rebuild there, invest there, and improve. That is what resilience looks like. That is what Jamaica must now do—again.
We strengthened our building code after Hurricane Gilbert, and we did it well. Today, decades later, it is time to strengthen it again. This isn’t optional. This isn’t “nice to have.” This is survival, and it is opportunity.
