11 Jan
According to the National Disaster Management Law, the National Disaster Management Fund was established in 2015.
The annual allocation of K20 billion has been used since 2016-2017 fiscal year, and it has made disaster risk reduction and response activities and rehabilitation more effective and quick.
Now the time comes to draw annual region-wise disaster response and management master plans by the respective regional and state governments including the Nay Pyi Taw Council to tackle the more commonly seen natural disasters during the monsoon season, which included cyclones, floods, flash floods, lightning, collapsing of embankments, and landslides.
Besides, the regional and state governments including Nay Pyi Taw Council need to draw required projects for other diasters preparedness apart from their annual plans.
Hence, it is foremost necessity for the regional and state governments to improve their disaster preparedness plans to better manage risk and mitigate economic and social costs before and after disasters.
We are confident the regional and state governments would be going to have to be more proactive about disaster preparedness by implementing plans for reducing floods, prevention landslides, taking measures for mitigating drought and water scarcity, construction of public shelters, taking measures for quick response to disasters including evacuation amidst disasters and drawing plans for internally displaced persons and using fund allocation effectively.
We can not prevent natural disasters, but we can reduce the impacts from them through our being properly prepared. We also need to encourage the use of modern technology such as AI as it can help identify urgent needs and infrastructure damage and provide all available data to experts to ensure that they make correct decisions based on the data.
Meanwhile, people must be alerted to seasonal disasters, including storms and earthquakes, and should prepare “full precautions” and take “necessary action” to protect themselves and their property from them.
We must continue to diligently make preparations for these possible situations, which are predictable.
We are confident that collaboration and cooperation between experts and regional authorities will ensure effective management plans for natural disasters during the COVID-19 crisis.
With well-effective disaster preparedness, we can improve outcomes at every point during the disaster life cycle.
