srilankanparliamentonnaturaldisasters

The experience of Tsunami of 26th December 2004 was that the people were taken unawares. It was a rare disaster; the characteristics of which were not known widely and people in Sri Lanka did not know what was happening. The most important lessons learnt were preparedness for events of this nature is vital and that all segments of population including the community and all levels of officials must be made aware of peculiar characteristics of tsunami, and as this is a very rare occurrence it is important that the knowledge is passed on to the next generation.

The Parliament Select Committee consisting of 21 members from all political parties represented in Parliament, was appointed with Hon. Mahinda Samarasinghe, Chief Opposition Whip of Parliament as the Chairman to investigate and recommend steps to ensure that an early warning system be put in place and other steps to minimize the damage caused by similar natural disasters. The Committee heard the evidence of relevant personnel, went on field visits and participated in several local and foreign study tours. Outcomes of these have been taken into consideration in compiling this report.

Sri Lanka Disaster Management Act

The recommendations suggested in this report are in conformity with the Sri Lanka Disaster Management Act, No. 13 of 2005 certified on 13th May 2005. This Act provides for a framework for disaster risk management in Sri Lanka and addresses disaster management (DM) holistically, leading to a policy shift from response-based mechanisms to a proactive approach toward DRM; and for establishment of Institutional and Legislative systems for a ‘legal’ framework for DRM. The fact that disaster management is a devolved subject as per the 13th Amendment of the constitution has been considered and consequently the Chief Ministers of all Provincial Councils are included in the National Council for Disaster Management as members.

In the Act functions of the National Council for Disaster Management (indicated as Council or NCDM in this report) and Disaster Management Centre (DMC) have been listed. The DMC will carry out the designated function under the guidance of the Council.

Proposed National Mechanism for Disaster Risk Management

In conformity with the provisions of the Act, a National Mechanism for Disaster Risk Management is proposed with appropriate Institutional Framework for National Disaster Management and the Structure for National Level Response with EOCs at relevant levels.

In handling local disasters which are the more frequent ones in the country Provincial Councils and Local authorities are to activate the provincial and local authority level EOCs to respond to emergency situation parallel to the district/division setup and similarly in long term actions for disaster mitigation to reduce the adverse impacts of disasters. Legal powers as required by the 13th Amendment of the constitution should be delegated to the Provincial Councils and consequently to the local authorities

The Committee recommends to work towards establishing the proposed DMC within a specially created Disaster Management Ministry with a mission to create a culture of safety to reduce the vulnerability of the population to natural hazardous events in the future.

The proposed DRM system recommends that the DMC, acts as the focal point to strictly monitor and coordinate the components of the system with relevant existing agencies under the guidance of the Council. The present National Disaster Management Centre (NDMC) is to be restructured with legal powers to form the proposed DMC

Five-Year Programme for Strengthening Disaster Risk Management in Sri Lanka; and Resource Mobilization and Partnership Strategy

The Committee proposes a Five-year Programme for Strengthening Disaster Risk Management System in Sri Lanka for implementation. Resource mobilization and Partnership Strategy for mobilizing national, regional and international resources and partnerships for disaster risk management is also proposed.

Key Reforms Suggested

Considering the inadequate disaster preparedness in the country at present as was evidenced in the December 2004 Tsunami, the Committee recommends the following key reforms in setting up the National Disaster Risk Management (DRM) Mechanism. The five-year programme for establishing the system including these key reforms will lead to a new approach in managing natural disaster risks in Sri Lanka.

1	Systematic Multi-hazard Mapping and Disaster Risk Assessment- Apart from work done by NBRO on landslide hazard mapping relatively little is available on disaster risks. A Systematic Multi-Hazard Mapping and Disaster Risk Assessment approach has been suggested. A special Hazard Mapping and Disaster Risk Assessment Unit is proposed within the DMC. Landslide studies of deciding priority areas for Risk Assessment based on criteria such as severely prone areas; importance of the sector- education, health, housing and agriculture depending on the geographical area; and where presently development projects are being finalized for integrating at the initial stages of such projects.
2	Systematic Data Collection, Research and Analysis- An approach is suggested for systematic data collection, Research and Analysis proposing a Data Collection Center and a Research and Development Unit within the DMC. These will be special technical units, which should be headed and manned by skilled personnel. The report suggests a system to be devised using the equipment presently available but which were not of use at the time of the recent tsunami calamity. An inventory of past disaster impacts and a DRM Website are also proposed.
3	Countrywide Disaster Early Warning System- The Committee considers that a powerful mechanism is required for coordination and working with relevant early warning agencies- international, regional and local considering the need for strengthening capacities of relevant local agencies covering early warning for weather related hazards, riverine floods, possible flooding of down stream of reservoirs, possible landslides, coastal flooding/storm surges and earthquakes and tsunamis/sea surges. Improvement of early warning dissemination systems is stressed. A study is suggested for getting recommendations on an appropriate cost effective comprehensive tsunami warning system.
4	Natural Disaster Mitigation Strategy for each level of Government- Mitigation activities to be carried out by relevant infrastructure and service providing agencies, local authorities and provincial council engineering divisions to be responsible for identifying mitigation projects that reduce disaster risk in a given area or a community including financial commitments. Local donor funding may be used for such projects. A multi-stakeholder mechanism at different levels must review such proposals and decide on priority projects considering the benefits to the communities and financial requirements.
5	Systems for integrating disaster risk concerns in development- It is imperative that disaster risk concerns are integrated in development. This includes integrating DRM in the National Development Process, introducing Codes and guidelines for Planning and Construction in Disaster Prone Areas. A Building Technology Unit has been proposed as a division of the DMC with the aim of (i.) Reviewing existing and developing new codes and guidelines, (ii.) Taking action to adopt them legally and making them mandatory and (iii.) Ensuring Compliance. Land Use Zoning Based on Hazard Maps and Data Base of Lands indicating proneness to various hazards are proposed. Activities required by programmes of UN agencies should receive attention. With regards to the coastal area buffer zone in the Council has made suitable recommendations. Recommendations have also been made on development control by LAs and requirement of EIA for all large development projects. To reduce future disaster risks, specific mechanisms must be developed to incorporate disaster risk reduction in the planning processes of some of the key development sectors such as environment, water resources, power and energy, education and health.
6	Natural Disaster Preparedness and Response Planning for each level of Government- For each level of government preparation of Disaster Preparedness and Response Plans, an Emergency Operating Center (EOC) and Disaster Management Committee are to be made mandatory. Local authorities are to be strengthened to improve their capacity to respond to disasters. DMC will coordinate and monitor preparedness of all levels of administration. Private sector agencies and communities also will be encouraged to prepare their plans. Departmental disaster preparedness plans including Standard Operation Procedures by service providing agencies at various levels would be related to technical activities of the department for recovery, emergency services etc. In Disaster Victim Identification (DVI) expertise lacking in Sri Lanka, Australia is willing to support through advanced courses in Canberra. Preparedness and response plans will ensure stakeholder involvement in disaster preparedness and during emergency, such as various traders and others, community and CBOs, NGOs and media. Ministry of Social Services must introduce a more effective system to register NGOs who can take on specific responsibilities in their specialized area of activity and entrust them with specific tasks. Special community recovery modules are proposed to enable the communities to return to normalcy within the shortest possible time.
7	Arrangement for Equitable Distribution of Relief and Recovery- DMC must derive a formula for Equitable Distribution of Relief and Recovery, considering the proportion of population affected in different areas, especially in national scale disasters. Concerns of the Internally Displaced Populations (IDPs) as proposed by IOM are to be considered.
8	Protection of Public Infrastructure from Impacts of Natural Disasters- The two aspects to consider are protection of existing infrastructure, and designing and constructing new infrastructure to withstand the forces of prevailing hazards, for which mitigation strategies and risk reduction strategies are suggested using information on multi-hazard risks. The Committee stresses the importance of maintenance of existing infrastructure and hence the significance of timely fund allocations to be made for regular and periodic maintenance; and for repairs including hazard resistant measures to be built in as required by retrofitting. Also vital is the new infrastructure incorporating hazard mitigation measures at different stages of development.
9	A National Public Education, Training and Community Awareness Programme Incorporate natural disaster risk management in school curriculum taking into consideration present activities already started and activities in proposal stage. A special activity proposed by the Committee is the School Net Project to train children to use the Internet system and as a tool for risk prevention awareness issues. The Environmental and Disaster Management Circles already initiated in schools can be utilized and further improved. To include risk awareness education, two elements that could be included are, (i) risk awareness education, and (ii) making schools safe from major accidents- with school safety plans. For incorporating disaster risk management in university education to initiate and commence teaching within a period of three years; draw up a programme for integration in all relevant degree and PG level courses as compulsory and/or optional modules in all other courses in universities; star PG Diploma and Masters Courses, and PhD studies in Disaster Management related subjects; promote projects, assignments and research work; seminars for dissemination of findings and research publication of selected work. Continue the present training and public awareness programmes with improvements; target groups and specific training areas are identified in the report; the mechanism for implementing should take into account activities presently done by various agencies and newly identified agencies.
10	Development of Private Sector- To promote private sector to organize themselves into associations with the goal of ‘providing a forum for information exchange to enhance emergency preparedness and contingency planning within the business community.’ They must have their own plans for responding to disasters as well as for rapid recovery after a disaster. A similar organization is in existence and functioning in the City of Los Angeles in USA known as Business and Industry Council for Emergency Planning and Preparedness (BICEPP). The Ceylon Chamber of Commerce has also recently commenced actions on steps to be taken in case of an earthquake.
11	Volunteers- The Committee recommends creating a culture of volunteerism to promote Emergency Volunteers at village, LA and division levels for assisting in emergencies. These groups will be registered by the relevant administration and training provided. In recruiting volunteers some considerations are, getting committed people from non traditional sectors, including young people, culturally and linguistically diverse groups, and retired and semi retired people, without nay political bias and those wiling to provide their service irrespective of what political parties are in power at local, provincial or national level governing bodies. Lessons from Australia can be taken for organizing volunteers in a systematic manner.
12	Role of Media in Natural Disaster Management- Focus of media attention are, events which are of priority interest to each media organization’s own audience and shock effect of an immediate disaster situation. Aspects of media coverage depend on operational capacity and newsgathering strategy. Media mobilization Guidelines for long tem and short term are proposed.
13	Role of Non-Governmental Organizations- NGOs active in the area of Disaster Management should be recognized and facilitated by government by registering and maintaining their details in a suitable format indicating types of their activity and their commitment in case of a disaster. It is recommended that a code of conduct similar to that used by AUSAID be developed for adoption.