Today, October 8, is International Day for Disaster Reduction. As we in the Caribbean join the rest of world in observing this day, we need to remind ourselves that we live in one of the most hazard prone regions in the world and must therefore remain focused on working to reduce the risk to life and property. Each year our Participating States are threatened or impacted by hurricanes, floods and landslides. These are forecasted to be more frequent and bigger as a result of the impact of climate variability and change. These and other threats such as volcanic eruptions and earthquakes highlight the urgent need for promoting resilient development as a cornerstone of our sustainable agenda.

Only a few weeks ago the region experienced intense hurricane activity associated with three hurricanes in twelve days that resulted in multiple impacts to several islands. The Bahamas, Cuba, Haiti, Jamaica and the Turks and Caicos Islands (TCI) were all affected between August 26 and September 9, 2008 by more than one tropical system which caused severe damage to property and infrastructure and in Haiti also claimed the lives of hundreds of persons. Torrential rains in Trinidad and Tobago caused flooding and the death of one person. Rains also caused landslides in St. Vincent and the Grenadines and took the life of one person.

There is also the Soufriere Hills Volcano in Montserrat that remains active. We also remember the November 2007 earthquake with a magnitude of 7.3 on the Richter scale which occurred off Martinique and shook countries from Guyana in the south to Puerto in the North.

Again this year we have seen the extent of the impact of these hazards on the economies and society in our countries. Significant damage has been reported to our built environment, including schools, hospitals, roads and bridges., Over 90 percent of the houses were damaged in Grand Turk and South Caicos in the TCI by Hurricane Ike and 25 percent of the houses in Great Inagua in the Bahamas sustained damage. In Haiti an estimated 30,000 houses were damaged from the impacts of Hurricanes Hanna and Gustav and over in Cuba an estimated 100,000 homes sustained damage from Gustav. Flooding from Hurricane Gustav in Jamaica caused the collapse of the Harbour View Bridge which spans the Hope River. There was also very significant damage to hospitals, schools and other public buildings, roads and the electricity system in TCI

The repeated devastation to critical infrastructure resulting from the impacts of such events has consistently setback regional development. Protection of our critical infrastructure must therefore become a pillar of our efforts to build a culture of resilience.

We are therefore strongly associating ourselves with The World Campaign for Disaster Reduction 2008-2009: which focuses on Hospitals Safe from Disasters. This campaign recognizes the important role of critical facilities and the need to reduce the risk of damage and destruction to these facilities from hazard events.

Today, as we observe International Day for Disaster Reduction, I wish for us to reflect deeply on the safety of our critical infrastructure including hospitals, schools, roads, bridges, utilities and indeed our individual and personal property. We are particularly thankful to the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) for the role it has played to bring this matter to the public attention and especially to that of our decision makers. This leadership is consistent with that of PAHO's role as the health sector leader within the Comprehensive Disaster Management (CDM) programme.

We wish to see the ownership for a safe hospital agenda taken up more visibly by stakeholders in the building and design community, such as the engineers, architects, contractors and the institutions that that train them. Whilst legislation is key for obligating responsibility, we must embrace a commitment to safety of public places and spaces.

Even as we consider safety of our critical facilities and infrastructure, I wish to highlight some initial building blocks that we have created in the region to establish and develop a safer building culture.