Addressing Disaster Risk Reduction in Malaysia

2nd International Conference on Environment, Agriculture and Food Sciences (ICEAFS'2013) August 25-26, 2013 Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia)

Addressing Disaster Risk Reduction in Malaysia: Mechanisms and Responds Md. Sujahangir Kabir Sarkar 1, Rawshan Ara Begum2, Joy Jacqueline Pereira3, and Abdul Hamid bin Jaafar4

to enhance the vulnerability of many of the societies and communities as well as to hamper many development investments and efforts [1]. Moreover it is responsible for environmental damage which is range from the felling of trees to the reshaping of entire landscapes. Fig. 1 shows an increasing trend of natural disasters over the decade.

Abstract— The occurrence of disasters are increasing worldwide over time which significantly hampers the development activities and results to damaging resources and livelihood. Managing the risks of disasters is crucial to reduce the impact of current and future disasters. This article provides an overview of the mechanisms and responds for addressing disaster risk reduction in Malaysia. In Malaysia, National Security Council is the principal policy making and coordinating body for disaster management which is also national focal point of United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction. Malaysia as one of the parties of Hyogo Framework for Action (HFA) is implementing the recommendations of HFA to reduce the impacts of disasters. Though Malaysia’s govt and non-government organisations are working together to reduce the risks and impacts of disasters, but there is need a national integration which would facilitate the efforts of mainstreaming disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation into policy, planning and development programmes.

no. of disaster 4000 3500 3000 2500 2000 1500 1000 500

Keywords— Disaster, Disaster risk, Responds, Malaysia.

0 1950-1959 1960-1969 1970-1979 1980-1989 1990-1999 2000-2009

I. INTRODUCTION

Fig. 1 Total number of reported natural disasters worldwide from 1950-2009 [2]

E

VIDENCE shows that occurrence of disasters are increasing worldwide over time which significantly hampers the development activities and results to damaging resources and livelihood. Combine losses due to disaster is beyond counting but it is belief that cost of disasters is so high which hampers development activities and efforts. Data from the Center for Research on the Epidemiology of Disasters (CRED) shows that 373 natural disasters took place in 2010, killing nearly 300,000 people and affecting over 200 million others, at a cost of nearly US$ 110 billion. Over the decade number of reported disasters has significantly increased from 294 in 1950-1959 to 3530 in 2000-2008 as shown in Figure 1. The impacts of disasters induced by climate change are likely

Though Malaysia is a less disaster prone country but it s not out of disaster. The impacts of climate related disasters are being felt in Malaysia e.g. floods, landslides and haze which causes losses in revenue and productivity and health risk to the people; Climate Change is due to the increase in GHG emission especially in CO2, CH4, N2O etc which causes changes in ambient temperature, extreme weather events, rise in sea water level, rapid long term changes in weather patterns induced by human activities. The human and economic losses due to several disasters from 1980-2010 in Malaysia are shown in Table I. TABLE I IMPACTS OF DISASTERS FROM 1980 TO 2010 IN MALAYSIA [3]

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Md. Sujahangir Kabir Sarkar, Ph.D. Research Fellow, Southeast Asia Disaster Prevention Research Institute (SEADPRI), Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Bangi 43600, Selangor, Malaysia (Corresponding author email: [email protected]) 2 Rawshan Ara Begum, Associate professor, Institute of Climate Chnage (IKP), Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Bangi 43600, Selangor, Malaysia (email: [email protected]) 3 Joy Jacqueline Pereira, Professor, Southeast Asia Disaster Prevention Research Institute (SEADPRI), Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Bangi 43600, Selangor, Malaysia (email: [email protected]) 4 Abdul Hamid bin Jaafar, P rofessor, Faculty Economics and Management (FEP), Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Bangi 43600, Selangor, Malaysia (email: [email protected])

No of disaster events: No of people killed: Average killed per year: No of people affected: Average affected per year: Economic Damage (US$ X 1,000): Economic Damage per year (US$ X 1,000):

58 1,239 40 639,344 20,624 1,867,500 60,242

The most severe natural disaster experiencing in Malaysia is flood. According to EM-DAT statistics, out of 58 disaster event during the period of 1980 to 2010, 31 was flood. Some 81


of the recorded flood experiences in the country occur in 1983, 1988, 1993, 1998, 2001, 2006 and 2007. Report from Department of Irrigation and Drainage stated that about 29,000 sq. km or 9% of total land area is affected by flooding annually. Damage cause by flood is estimated about RM915 million [4]. The top 10 disasters according to the number of affected people and damage cost are shown in the Table II.

assistance; an unforeseen and often sudden event that causes great damage, destruction and human suffering” [8]. B. Disaster Risk Disaster risk arises when hazards interact with physical, social, economic and environmental vulnerabilities. Events of hydro meteorological origin constitute the large majority of disasters. Despite the growing understanding and acceptance of the importance of disaster risk reduction and increased disaster response capacities, disasters and in particular the management and reduction of risk continue to pose a global challenge [9]. Fig. 2 shows the relationship of vulnerability, hazard and disaster (See Fig.2 in Appendix I).

TABLE II TOP 10 DISASTERS FROM 1980-2010 ACCORDING TO AFFECTED POPULATION AND DAMAGE COST [3] Disaster

Year

Flood Flood Flood Storm Flood Flood Flood Flood Epidemic Flood

2007 2006 1988 2004 2005 2007 1986 1993 1997 2001

Population affected 137,533 100,000 60,000 40,000 30,000 29,000 25,000 25,000 19,544 18,000

Disaster

Year

Flood Earthquake Flood Wildfire Storm Flood Flood Flood Wildfire Flood

2007 2004 2007 1997 1996 2006 1986 2004 1998 2000

Cost (US$ “000”) 605,000 500,000 363,000 300,000 52,000 22,000 11,500 10,000 2,000 1,000

C. Disaster Risk Management Disaster risk management (DRM) is the systematic process of using administrative decisions, organization, operational skills and capacities to implement policies, strategies and coping capacities of the society and communities to lessen the impacts of natural hazards and related environmental and technological disasters. This comprises all forms of activities, including structural and non-structural measures to avoid (prevention) or to limit (mitigation and preparedness) adverse effects of hazards [5].

Though the country is mostly affected by flood but it is also experiencing some other disasters such as drought, land slide Tsunami etc. that have impacted the country in terms of loss of livelihood, property damage, disruption and destruction of services, economic as well as financial losses. For the past few decades, climate change has been observed in Malaysia through increasing temperature, changing rainfall patterns and extreme weather conditions that lead to reported increasing incidences of climate related disasters, such as floods, droughts and landslides. Malaysia is indeed committed to disaster risk reduction and continues its efforts towards implementing the priority areas of the Hyogo Framework for Action (HFA) to build resilience of nations and communities and cope better with the disasters that threaten development goals. This Framework supports a stronger recognition of climate change concerns in disaster risk reduction strategies and seeks to establish multi-disciplinary, forward looking approach [5]. To reduce the disaster risk, it is important to focus disaster risk reduction (DRR) measures at the national and local level as well [6, 7]. This article provides an overview of the Malaysian mechanisms and responds to DRR

D. Disaster Risk Reduction Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) is a part of DRM which describes the development and application of policies, strategies and practices that minimize vulnerabilities and disaster risks throughout a society, to avoid (prevention) or to limit (mitigation and preparedness) the adverse impacts of hazards, within the broad context of sustainable development [10, 11]. DRR uses a wide range of options including legal, institutional and policy frameworks, administrative mechanisms and procedures related to risk reduction of current and future disasters. The Hyogo Framework for Actions (HFA) has outlined the roadmap for DRR, encompassing governance, risk assessment and early warning, knowledge and education, underlying risk factors in the context of development and disaster preparedness and response [12]. III. DISASTER MANAGEMENT IN MALAYSIA

II. CONCEPTS AND DEFINITIONS Managing the risks of disasters is crucial to reduce the impact of current and future disasters. In Malaysia, the National Security Council (NSC) is the principal policy making and coordinating body for disaster management which has prepared NSC Directive No. 20 as "Policy and Mechanism on National Disaster and Relief Management" on 11 May 1997. The NSC coordinates and plans all activities related to preparedness, prevention, response/relief operations and recovery/rehabilitation of disaster management [13]. NSC established the Disaster Management and Relief Committee (DMRC) with the major aim of coordinating disasters at the three different levels, namely: Districts, States and Federal which is described in fig. 3 (See Fig. 3 in Appendix I). The

A. Disaster At the outset of its advocacy for the International Decade for Natural Disaster Reduction or IDNDR, the United Nations promoted its working definition for disaster as “ a serious disruption of the functioning of society, causing widespread human, material or environmental losses which exceed the ability of the affected people to cope using its own resources. Disasters are often classified according to their cause viz. Natural or man-made”. CRED defines a disaster as “a situation or event which overwhelms local capacity, necessitating a request to a national or international level for external

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committee works for information dissemination, search and rescue, medical service, security and welfare by taking help from different government agencies and organization which reduce the impacts of disasters. Managing the disaster risk is crucial to reduce the impacts of disasters. In Malaysia the main agencies involved in disaster management [14, 15] include the following: • National Security Council (NSC) • Ministry of Natural Resource and Environment • Ministry of Energy, Green Technology and water • The Royal Malaysian Police • The Royal Malaysian Army • Special Malaysia Disaster Assistance and Rescue Team (SMART) • Malaysian Meteorological Service (MMS) • Drainage and Irrigation Department (DID) • The Public Works Department (PWD) • Social Welfare Department • The Local Authority • Non-Governmental Organizations (eg. Malaysian Red Crescent Society and Scout Society • Civil Defense Department • Other National and International Cooperation

achievements by reducing disaster vulnerability and impacts, tackling climate change by reducing GHG emissions and safeguarding economic growth and development [16]. On the other hand, Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment has implemented National Policy on Climate Change 2009 encourages climate resilient development through mainstreaming climate change into DRR, integrating of climate change responses into policies, plans and programmes and strengthening of institutional and implementation capacity [17]. The Environmental Quality Act also forms the basic instrument for achieving environmental policy objectives [18]. Some other acts such as the Land Conservation Act, Town and Country Planning Act, Irrigation and Drainage Act and Uniform Building by Law also play important role for reducing disaster risk in Malaysia. It is evident that so many respond measures for DRR have taken by the Malaysia where several organizations are involved. So there is need for national integration for better performance of DRR at all level. The major organizational responds regarding DRR in Malaysia are summarized in Table IV (See Table IV in Appendix II). V. CONCLUSION Malaysia is experiencing frequent disasters such as flood and landslides which the country faces enormous property loss and livelihood damages. Thus, proper DRR mechanisms and responds are essential to reduce the impact of current and future disasters. The Government of Malaysia is indeed committed to disaster risk reduction and continues its efforts towards implementing the priority areas of the HFA. National Security Council (NSC) is the principal policy making and coordinating body for disaster management in Malaysia which is also national focal point of UNISDR. Malaysia has already taken several initiatives through policy, plan and actions towards reducing disaster risk and enhancing resilience of the nation. Though Malaysia’s govt and non-government organizations are working together to reduce the risks and impacts of disasters, but there is need a national integration for tackling the two acute issues of the impacts of climate change and disasters at all levels. The establishment of such a national integration would facilitate the efforts of mainstreaming disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation into policy, planning, and development programmes at the national and local levels.

Table III shows some of the non government organization (NGOs) involvement in disaster management which provide assistance in disaster mitigation, response, recovery, rehabilitation and construction. Table III ROLE OF NGOS FOR DISASTER RISK MANAGEMENT IN MALAYSIA Major NGOs Malaysian Red Crescent Society (MRCS) Mercy JIM, ABIM Global Peace Malaysia Global Sikh Malaysia AMAN Malaysia St. John ambulance Force of Nature Haluan Malaysia

Main activities Medical assistance and Rehabilitation Medical assistance and rehabilitation Response, assistance, fund Medical assistance and rehabilitation Health assistance and rehabilitation Rehabilitation and reconstruction Medical assistance Fund Rehabilitation and reconstruction

IV. RESPONDS TO DISASTER RISK REDUCTION IN MALAYSIA There are some major initiatives and responds have been taken through different governmental organization and agencies for reducing the risk of disasters in Malaysia. National Security Council (NSC) is the principal policy making and coordinating body for disaster management which has prepared NSC Directive No. 20 as "Policy and Mechanism on National Disaster and Relief Management" on 11 May 1997. The NSC coordinates and plans all activities related to preparedness, prevention, response/relief operations and recovery/rehabilitation of disaster management [13]. NSC is now working as national focal point of United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (UNISDR) and translating the Hyogo Framework for Actions (HFA) through the different policy and plan in Malaysia. Ministry of Energy, Green Technology and Water has been made a National Green Technology Policy in 2009 which promotes multiple

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT The authors are greatly acknowledged to the research grant ‘Exploratory Research Grant Scheme (ERGS)’ under the Ministry of Higher Education, Malaysia (Project Code: ERGS/1/2011/SS/UKM/02/29). REFERENCES [1]

[2]

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HDR, 2008. Human Development Report 2008. United Nations Development Program, New York. http://hdr.undp.org/en/media/HDR_20072008_EN_Complete.pdf CRED, 2008. Annual Disaster Statistical Review, Centre for Research on Epidemiology of Disasters, University of Louvain, Brussels, Belgium. Available at www.emdat.be.


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[10] Davies, M., Guenther, B., Leavy, Tom Mitchell, J. and Tanner, T. 2008. Climate Change Adaptation, Disaster Risk Reduction and Social Protection: Complementary Roles in Agriculture and Rural Growth, Centre for Social Protection and Climate Change and Disasters Group, Institute of Development Studies, University of Sussex, Brighton. [11] Baas, S., Ramasamy, S. Depryck, J. D. and Battista, F. 2008. Disaster risk management systems analysis, Environment, Climate Change and Bioenergy Division, Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations, Rome. Available at ftp://ftp.fao.org/docrep/fao/010/ai504e/ai504e00.pdf [12] UNISDR, UNDP, 2012. Disaster Risk Reducton and Climate Change Adaptaton in the Pacifc: An Insttutonal and Policy Analysis. Suva, Fiji: UNISDR, UNDP. [13] AIPA, 2011. 3rd Asean Inter-Parliamentary Assembly (AIPA) Caucas Report, Manila, Philippines. [14] National Security Council of Malaysia. 1997. Directive No. 20: Policy mechanism of national disaster management and relief. National Security Division, Prime Minister’s Department, Malaysia. [15] Rahman, B. A. 2012. Issues of Disaster Management Preparedness: A Case Study of Directive 20 of National Security Council Malaysia, International Journal of Business and Social Science Vol. 3 No. 5; March 2012. [16] Begum, R.A.; Komoo, I. and Pereira J. J. 2012. Linking Green Technology and Disaster Risk Reduction. Advances in Natural and Applied Sciences, 6(8): 1296-1301. [17] MNRE, 2009. National Policy on Climate Change, Ministry of Natural Resource and Environment, Federal Government of Malaysia, Putrajaya. [18] Mustafa, Maizatun 2011. The Environmental Quality Act 1974: a significant legal instrument for implementing environmental policy directives of Malaysia. IIUM Law Journal, 19 (1):1-34. [19] WHO/EHA, 2002. Disasters and Emergencies, Definitions Training Package. Pan African Emergency Training Centre, Addis Ababa. [20] Roosli, R. 2011. Managing disasters in Malaysia: The attitude of officials towards compliance with the MNSC directive 20. Asia-Pacific Housing Forum 3 and Exhibition: Sustainable Shelter in the age of climate change and Disasters, September 07-09, 2011, Bangkok.

EM-DAT: The OFDA/CRED International Disaster Database, Université catholique de Louvain, Brussels, Belgium. Available at http// www.emdat.be Safie Mohd., M., Alias, B. and Dzurllkanian, D. 2006. GIS analysis for flood hazard mapping: case Study Segamat, Johor, West Malaysia. In: SEMINAR NASIONAL GIS 2006: Geographic Information System Application for Mitigation in Natural Disaster, 29 November 2006, Universiti Indonesia, Jakarta. http://eprints.utm.my/1157/1/Safie_GIStechniques.pdf Few R., H. Osbahr Bouwer LM, D. Viner and F. Sperling, 2006. Linking climate change adaptation and disaster risk management for sustainable poverty reduction. Synthesis Report, Study carried out for the Vulnerability and Adaptation Resource Group (VARG). Department for International Development (DFID). 2005. Disaster Risk Reduction: a Development Concern. DFID: London. GAR, 2011. Global Assessment Report on Disaster Risk Reduction 2011, United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction. CRED (2010) Annual Disaster Statistical Review, Centre for Research on Epidemiology of Disasters, University of Louvain, Brussels, Belgium. Available at www.emdat.be. UNISDR, 2005. United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction: Hyogo Framework for Action 2005–2015: Building the Resilience of Nations and Communities to Disasters, World Conference on Disaster Reduction, Kobe, Hyogo, Japan, 2005.

APPENDIX I Vulnerability

Disaster

Hazard

Disaster = Vulnerability + Hazard

Underlying causes Dynamic pressure Unsafe conditions Poverty Lack of Fragile physical Limited access to - Local institutions environment - Power structure - Education - dangerous location - Resources - Training & skill - dangerous building Ideologies - Local investments Economic system - Local markets Fragile local economy Age, sex - Services - low levels of income - livelihoods at risk Illness & disabilities Macro forces - Population expansion Public actions - Urbanization - Environmental degradation

Fig. 2 Relationship of Vulnerability, Hazard and Disaster [19]

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Trigger event Earthquake High wind, storm Floods Landslide Drought War, civil strife Economic crisis Technological accident


Central Disaster Management and relief committee State Disaster Management and relief committee

District Disaster Management and relief committee

Media • Information department • Broadcasting department • Press coverage • Electronic media coverage • Media control

Welfare • Social welfare dept. • Emergency medical service • Red crescent society Malaysia • Saint John Ambulance Malaysia • Voluntary service

Search & rescue • Malaysia Fire and rescue dept. • Royal Malaysia police • Malaysia armed force • Special armed forces disaster assistance • Emergency medical service • Civil service dept.

• • • •

Health & medical service • Emergency medical service • Malaysia armed forces • Red crescent society Malaysia • Saint John Ambulance • Management of forensic service • Management of public health

Evacuating disaster victims Preparing food for disaster victims Providing and managing the place of evacuation Providing first aid and counseling services

Security control • Royal Malaysia police • Voluntary service (RELA) • Provide control at scene of incident • Conduct investigation • Facilitate communication

Support • District office • District & town council • National electricity ltd • Telecom Malaysia bhd • Malaysia armed forces • Royal Malaysia police • Public work dept.

Fig. 3 Disaster Management Mechanism of Malaysia [20]

APPENDIX II TABLE IV MALAYSIAN RESPONDS TO THE DRR RELATED MEASURES AT NATIONAL AND LOCAL LEVEL [13, 14, 16, 17, 18] Agency/Organization Responses through policy, plan and act Main purpose/action National Security Council of the • Directive No. 20 on "Policy and Mechanism on • Planning and coordinating activities that are implemented Prime Minister’s Department National Disaster and Relief Management" on 11 by the Disaster Management and Relief Committee at May 1997 federal, state and local levels • Disaster Management and Relief Committee at • National Focal point of DRR federal, state and District level Ministry of Natural Resources and • National Policy on Climate Change 2009 • Incorporate climate change into DRR Environment • Review and harmonizing policies, plan and legislation related to DRR • National Focal Point to the UNFCCC Ministry of energy, green • National Green Technology Policy 2009 • Reduce disaster vulnerability and impacts technology and water • Reduce GHG emissions and safeguarding economic growth and development Department of Irrigation and • Urban Storm water Management Manual (MSMA) • Feasibility assessment and execution of physical Drainage & Department of Town in 2000 and Land Use Planning Appraisal for Risk developments and Country Planning Areas (LUPAR) in 2005 Malaysian Meteorological • National Tsunami Early Warning System • Provide early warning on tsunami threat Department Public Works Department • Slope management and disaster risk reduction strategy for • National Slope Master Plan landslides The Economic Planning Unit, • 10th Malaysia Plan • Reduce emission of greenhouse gases (GHGs) Prime Minister’s Department Department of Environment • The Environmental Quality Act 1974 • This act is related to the prevention, abatement, control of pollution and enhancement of the environment in Malaysia

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