The Public Health (Emergency Measures) (Coronavirus COVID-19) Order, 2022 – dated March 18, 2022

On Thursday, March 17, 2022, Prime Minister Andrew Holness announced that the use of the Disaster Risk Management Act (DRMA) to implement Covid-19 emergency measures would end the following day. He said that a few of the measures that had been in place would instead be administered under the Public Health Act but that all others would come to an end.

The Ministry of Health & Wellness (MOHW) issued a press release about the revocation of the DRMA Covid-19 Orders and indicated that a copy of new Public Health Enforcement Measures Order was attached to the release.

However, although the press release was posted on the MOHW website, the attached Order doesn’t seem to have been posted there. It was posted on the Office of the Prime Minister’s website.

I have posted a copy of the Order below.

The Public Health (Enforcement Measures) (Coronavirus COVID-19) Order, 2022 – March 18 2022Download

Some of the measures are scheduled to expire in a week’s time, on April 15, 2022 and the PM had indicated that a review is to take place to determine what will happen after that time. If the Covid data from the MOHW continues on the trend of the past few weeks, it is likely that the remaining measures will not be extended. The rising number of cases and hospitalisations in the UK, the USA and Canada is cause for concern, however, as in the past increases in those countries have been followed some weeks later by increases here in Jamaica.

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Disaster Risk Management Order No. 11 Amendment – Dated November 18, 2021

The current Disaster Risk Management Order has now been posted on the Ministry of Justice website, which has a new look for the arrangement of its archive of these gazetted Orders. Perhaps the transition to this new arrangement was what was causing some glitches to the page over the past couple of days. Neither Order No. 11 nor this Amendment is posted on the OPM website yet.

Here is a copy of this gazetted Order, Disaster Risk Management (Enforcement Measures) (No. 11)(Amendment) Order, 2021:

Disaster Risk Management (Enforcement Measures) (No. 11) (Amendment) Order, 2021- November 18, 2021Download

Disaster Risk Management Order No. 9, Amendment No. 2, 2021 – Dated Sept 3, 2021

The gazetted copy of Disaster Risk Management Order No. 9, Amendment No. 2 is available online on the Office of the Prime Minister website, though not yet on the Ministry of Justice website. I have also posted a copy below. With many of the measures in this amendment expiring this week, another announcement by the Prime Minister is expected, perhaps in Parliament on Wednesday, when the House of Representatives resumes its sittings after the summer break.

Disaster Risk Management (Enforcement Measures) (No. 9) (Amendment) (No. 2) Order, 2021 – September 3 2021Download

Disaster Risk Management Order No. 5, 2021 – Dated April 13, 2021 (& Amendment to Order No. 4)

On Tuesday (April 13, 2021) in Parliament, Prime Minister Andrew Holness announced new measures under the Disaster Risk Management. The gazetted order has been posted online on the Office of the Prime Minister’s website. It has not yet been posted on the Ministry of Justice website. I have posted a copy of the Gazette below.

Disaster Risk Management Enforcement Measures) (No. 5) Order, 2021- April 13 2021Download

For completeness, I have posted the amendment to Order No. 4 2021, although its provisions have now been replaced by Order No. 5

Disaster Risk Management (Enforcement Measures) (No. 4) (Amendment) Order, 2021 – March 31 2021Download

Disaster Risk Management Order No. 4, 2021 – Dated March 23, 2021 (& Amendment to Order No. 3)

The Gazette of Disaster Risk Management (Enforcement Measures) (No. 4) Order, 2021 containing the measures announced by Prime Minister Holness last Sunday (March 21, 2021) and spoken about in Parliament on Tuesday (March 23, 2021) was posted on the Office of the Prime Minister’s website yesterday (March 26, 2021).

Here is a copy of the gazetted order:

Disaster Risk Management (Enforcement Measures) (No. 4) Order 2021 – March 23, 2021Download

Also, for completeness, here is a copy of the amendment to the previous order – No. 3 2021 – dated March 12, 2021.

Disaster Risk Management (Enforcement Measures) (No. 3) (Amendment) Order 2021 – March 12 2021Download

Disaster Risk Management Order No. 3, 2021 – Dated March 1, 2021 (& Order No. 2 & Its Two Amendments)

The Gazette of the current Disaster Risk Management Order has now been posted on the Ministry of Justice website and the Office of the Prime Minister’s website. I have posted a copy below:

Disaster Risk Management (Enforcement Measures) (No. 3) Order, 2021 – March 1, 2021Download

To bring my blog up to date, I am also posting copies of the three orders gazetted in February, 2021:

Disaster Risk Management (Enforcement Measures) (No. 2) Order, 2021 – February 1, 2021Download

Disaster Risk Management (Enforcement Measures) (No. 2) (Amendment) Order, 2021 – February 10, 2021Download

Disaster Risk Management (Enforcement Measures) (No. 2) (Amendment) (No. 2) Order, 2021- February 24, 2021Download

Disaster Risk Management Order, 2021 – Dated January 15, 2021 & Amendments 2, 3 & 4 to Order No. 16 of 2020

The Gazette of the first Disaster Risk Management Order for 2021 became available today:

Disaster Risk Management (Enforcement Measures) Order 2021 – January 15, 2021Download

This Gazette has been posted on the Office of the Prime Minister website. It is not yet on the Ministry of Justice website, but will probably be posted there shortly. I no longer regard the Ministry of Health & Wellness website as a reliable source of the Gazette, as the amendments aren’t posted there; it does, however, have a link to the OPM website.

Last Order & Amendments for 2020

Gazetted copies of the last three amendments for 2020 are posted below. I have also reposted Order No. 16 for ease of reference.

Disaster Risk Management (Enforcement Measures) (No. 16) (Amendment) (No. 4) Order, 2020 – December 30, 2020Download

Disaster Risk Management (Enforcement Measures) (No. 16) (Amendment) (No. 3) Order, 2020 – December 21, 2020Download

Disaster Risk Management (Enforcement Measures) (No. 16) (Amendment) (No. 2) Order, 2020 – December 16, 2020Download

Disaster Risk Management (Enforcement Measures) (No. 16) Order, 2020 – December 1, 2020Download

The first of the Covid-19 Disaster Risk Management Orders was broadcast in March 2020, ten months ago. I don’t know how long the government intends to continue issuing these orders. The question remains as to whether this is the way in which these measures should be issued on an ongoing basis, this long after the start of the pandemic, one of the issues being the lack of parliamentary oversight provided by this mechanism.

Disaster Risk Management Order No. 16 – Dated December 1, 2020

The Gazette of the most recent Disaster Risk Management Order is now available. I have posted a copy below.

Disaster Risk Management Enforcement Measures (No. 16) Order, 2020 – December 1, 2020Download

The gazetted order has been posted on the website of the Office of the Prime Minister, but not yet on the websites of the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Health and Wellness.

Disaster Risk Management Order No. 14 – Dated October 6, 2020

The Gazette of Disaster Risk Management Order No. 14 was posted online this morning. A copy of the order is posted below:

Disaster Risk Management (Enforcement Measures) (Order No. 14), 2020 – October 6 2020 Download

Prime Minister Andrew Holness announced the new and amended measures contained in this order in Parliament last week Tuesday (October 6, 2020). That the Gazette was posted on the governement website a week later is problematic, but it is the pattern that has prevailed throughout the many months since these Orders have been used. Perhaps we are meant to be grateful that the gazetted orders are posted on the Ministry of Justice, the Office of the Prime Minister and the Ministry of Health & Wellness (scroll all the way to the bottom of the page) websites, albeit some time after the measures are announced, as initially they were not posted online by the government at all.

Disaster Risk Management Order No. 13 – Dated September 23, 2020

The Gazette of the most recent Disaster Risk Management Order is now available and I have posted a copy below. Prime Minister Holness announced the new or amended measures at a press conference on Tuesday (September 22, 2020).

disaster-risk-management-enforcement-measures-no.-13-order-2020-september-23-2020Download

Checks this afternoon of the ususal Ministry of Justice and Office of the Prime Minister’s websites showed that the Gazette of the new Order was not posted there, but the Ministry of Health & Wellness tweeted out a link to Order No. 13 on its website, which was a surprise.