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| Sunday, 7 March 2004 |
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Features |  |
| News Business Features Editorial
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Disaster Management: Better be safe than sorry by Kaminie Jayanthi Liyanage "I am here because May 2003 could be repeated in May 2004. I have noticed that the public memory is quite short" - Ramraj Narasimhan, Disaster Management Technical Advisor (UNDP).
Ramraj answers, "I say I am here because May 2003 could be repeated in May 2004. I have noticed that the public memory is quite short." If memory is anything to go by, one still remembers that although the entire Matara district is in the wet zone of the country and heavy rainfalls are experienced during the onset of May monsoon, the torrential rains and strong winds which unleashed floods and landslides in May 2003 were unprecedented. It was the worst disaster that Matara ever had since 1947, with the highest damages accruing to people who lived in Kotapola, Pasgoda, Pitabeddara, Aturaliya, Akuressa, Malimboda, Mulitiyana, Kamburupitiya, Hakmana and Thihagoda. Memory prompts us that once the fever for recovery and reconstruction has calmed down, mitigation and disaster preparedness are going to be the foremost imperatives in the national priority list. The Lessons Learnt Workshop held by the UNDP in mid-February at Bay Beach Hotel, Weligama, was a preliminary exercise in pooling previous disaster experiences and the existing institutional memory to bring together District level administration and the common man to prepare their own disaster preparedness plans. J.R. Dissanayake, District Secretary, Matara, Gamini Jayasekera, Addl. District Secretary, Matara, N.D. Hettiarachchi, Director, National Disaster Management Centre (NDMC), Okama Ekpe Brook, UN Volunteers Programme Co-ordinator, UNDP, and Geethi Karunaratne, Consultant, UNDP, added resources to the workshop, speaking on Sri Lanka's vision, response and forming a legal and institutional framework of disaster management and the role of voluntarism therein. Also represented were the stakeholders involved - district, division and village administrations, line ministerial departments, armed forces, private sector and NGOs. As expressed by the Addl. District Secretary, Matara, what Matara district lacked in preparation for a disaster was an action plan, a district database and a communication system during the disaster situation. Lack of accessibility to the affected areas due to road blocks, lack of transport and staff, misinterpretive media, political and department problems and lack of co-ordination were also prominent issues. Legal authority
The Ministry of Social Services still does not have the legal authority for action as the Disaster Management Bill is not prepared yet, comments Ramraj. "The very first National Disaster Management Centre (NDMC), housed in the Ministry of Social Welfare is the focal point of any disaster. Legislation has now been prepared in the form of the Bill for Disaster Management which has been in the approval process for the last 5-6 years." While half of the US $ 300,000 UNDP preparedness and mitigation project is for relief, recovery and reconstruction and the balance is for preparedness. "The world over, out of every 100 $ spent on disaster management, only 1 dollar goes for preparedness." During 1997-99, UNDP supported the development of a National Disaster Management Plan, a draft Disaster Management Act, the training of national and district level officials and extended support to the National Disaster Management Centre. It supported the establishment of the Landslide Studies and Services Division at the National Building Research Organization (NBRO) established by the Land Slide Hazard Mapping which is the key actor in the evacuation and resettlement of communities in landslide-affected areas. Now with the lessons learnt from May 2003, UNDP is strengthening the capacity of the district, divisional and village administration, building on the mechanism laid by the NDMC. It hopes that a disaster preparedness and response plan formulated by the people in Matara will in future contribute to minimizing the damages and losses of the Matara district. The ability of the national system to reduce and deal with natural disaster risks is still limited due to inadequate legislative arrangements and operational disaster management plans at the national and district levels. Strategies looked at are development of district and division level disaster preparedness plans in collaboration with NDMC in the affected districts; establishing a disaster risk information system in collaboration with NDMC and NBRO; and reviewing the existing Early Warning Systems. Five district plans and one divisional plan are in the preparation process. UNDP says that when plans for all five districts complete, an effective system to respond to any natural disaster will be in place up to 20 per cent of Sri Lanka's land with the facility of replicating same in other 20 districts. Preparation process A change to the structure of the disaster impediment structure is now under way, Ramraj explained, "Above the NDMC is the National Disaster Management Council with Prime Minister as the Chairman and Minister for Social Welfare as the Vice Chairman. What is proposed is that the President join this structure as the Chairperson with the Prime Minister becoming the Vice Chairman. the council has two technical committees comprising a Natural Disaster Management Centre and a Human Disaster Management Centre. Provisions for both currently exists but in adhoc form and there is no legislation to back them." Except for the entry of President as the Chairperson, the rest of the national disaster management structure remains the same with two Technical Committees coming under the Council. More corresponding ministries have been brought into be part of the Council and the Bill would have been approved had the Ministry of Social Welfare not been left out. As it is, the Bill is back with the Attorney General for revision. "If it is approved, the National Disaster Management Centre will have two divisions of natural and human-made." Once the Act is passed, the National Disaster Management Plan will be presented for approval. "The plan with the district and divisional level committees, shaping up to the national plan, form the broad framework and it is up to Districts to come up with details." UNDP hopes to come up with a document on disaster preparedness shortly. |
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| Editorial | Security Produced by Lake House |
"The floods have come and gone. Why are you still here?" This
is the question Ramraj Narasimhan, UNV Disaster Management Technical
Advisor of United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) from India is
repeatedly being asked, while at work in areas affected by floods and
landslides last year.
