By YOURI KEMP

The Bahamas must create a “pre-disaster planning council” involving multiple government agencies following Hurricane Dorian, the Bahamas Institute of Chartered Accountants (BICA) president said yesterday.

Diveane Bowe, speaking during the annual Accountants Week seminars, said: “Preparedness is the key to the country’s ability to recover from natural disaster and respond to emergencies. To prepare for emergency, an emergency management team must assess potential problems and set plans in motion to help communities’ weather disasters.”

He explained that the “pre-disaster planning council” would require a “communications protocol” to be developed across government agencies, the private sector and non-governmental organisations to assist with making disaster relief efforts much smoother.

Mr Bowe said the accounting industry, following hurricanes and other natural disasters, can assist with community-scale evacuation logistics planning, budgeting and fund-raising, and emergency needs.

“We [can] also assist with public/private partnership structuring under disaster declarations, and also with the procurement of equipment in the immediate aftermath of natural disasters,” he added.

Accountants, Mr Bowe said, can also advise clients on the management and disbursement of funds; assist recipients with any regulatory requirements they must fulfil; help structure procurement and reimbursements; conduct cost/benefit analyses and compliance; and help the government with streamlining approval awards among multiple partners and vendors.

Warning that disaster relief donations must be spent properly, Mr Bowe said accountants have to make sure the “money is received, allocated and spent in a manner that is ethical. BICA will provide aid with regard to accountability in how funds are coming in, and how those funds are being disbursed”.

Asked by Tribune Business how he sees the accounting profession assisting private sector clients to combat climate change, Mr Bowe replied: “As a result of climate change concerns, companies are now eager to make sure their footprints are ‘greener’ than what they used to be.

“So it is our job as accounting professionals to help companies track what they do, and help them create an indicative value on what it means to change and to see what the value of their change has been on the society and how it impacts their business.”