Into the third month of this year and already there have been some four significant earthquakes: in Haiti, Chile, Japan and Taiwan. Both Haiti and Chile suffered serious devastation of the physical infrastructure but the loss of life in Haiti, tragically, was over 200,000 while that in Chile was less than 1,000. What accounted for this huge difference? When the scale of the disaster in Haiti became clear, there was talk in some quarters that the widespread practice of voodoo/obeah in that land was a contributing factor if not the major cause. Even if one were to ignore the distasteful, self-righteous talk of the seriously deluded, it is certainly difficult to comprehend the callousness of the pronouncements. Despite the huge technological progress achieved, bias against traditional practices is still widespread.

The monotheistic-driven obsession with condemning nature-based, different approaches to worship is far from diminished. Common sense, supported by basic engineering, would indicate that structures, built to absorb the energy of earthquakes, would fare better than those that are not. So building with strong foundations and properly fastened subsystems would result in the structure moving as a unit in consonance with the earthquake waves and hence more likely not fall apart. The facts indicate that most of the buildings in Haiti did not conform to these building principles and hence the tragic consequences. Rectifying this problem is a difficult one for poor developing nations as the demand for shelter needs to be balanced with the costly policy of enforcing building codes.

This is a harsh reality of life. Haiti has had more than its “fair” share of natural disasters. This has little to do with voodoo practices and more to do with it being in an earthquake zone and in the path of hurricanes. In fact, one may proffer the explanation that for these very reasons people turn to traditional ancestral practices which bring some measure of succour and relief from grinding poverty and frequent natural disasters. The relatively low level of the loss of life in Chile compared to that in Haiti has to do with the fact that Chile is a far more prosperous and developed country. Thus building codes are generally enforced and the response to disasters considerably more developed. Both countries require huge financial resources to repair/rebuild their infrastructures that would span many years.

It would not be difficult to predict that Chile would also do better than Haiti in this regard. Again it has nothing to do with voodoo. It has to do with resources and capacity. Having seen disasters to both the north and south of us, our ability to cope with natural disasters, like hurricanes and earthquakes, is a popular current topic. There can be no question that we need, as a nation, to examine our state of readiness to react to disasters and also the state of our infrastructure to withstand such. But the promotion of hysteria should not be part of the process. It is acknowledged that we cannot predict earthquakes so one is more than a bit puzzled by statements/assertions/pronouncements that we are due for a “large one.”

Prediction of natural disasters like hurricane and earthquakes are not possible for no one fully understands all of the processes involved and their interrelationships, despite the tremendous advances being made. On the other hand, we do know the tragic outcomes that these events can cause and thus the effort should be placed on education for appropriate responses and strengthening the infrastructure. The responsibility for this must reside with both the citizenry and the state. It is appropriate to expect citizens to be in the vanguard of the movement to ensure conformity with good building practices. It is the duty of the State, however, to ensure that the public health institutions are capable of withstanding most earthquakes and hurricanes so that the healthcare system does not collapse in these situations.

Since we cannot predict when and where an earthquake may strike, plans must be made for zonal care facilities in case of the damage to highway network. As an example, if the southeast of the country were to be affected, where would citizens go for treatment? It would be reassuring to the citizenry if basic information on the plans, as opposed to meaningless and useless platitudes like “we are prepared,” were made available and some basic drills conducted nationwide.