News
Tuesday, October 08, 2013
President stresses enhanced capacity to deal with disasters* PM emphasises need to apprise common man of disaster risk management
ISLAMABAD: President Mamnoon Hussain has stressed the need for building capacity in dealing with natural and human-induced disasters.
In a message for the National Disaster Awareness Day on October 8, the president said there should be awareness about the emerging risks of climate change.
The president said that devastating floods during the past few years and recent earthquake in Balochistan called for a proactive and effective system to face such disasters.
“We need to ensure that risks are continuously monitored and timely mitigating actions are taken,” he said.
President Mamnoon said that October 8, 2005 would be remembered for years to come as the day when the people of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Azad Jammu and Kashmir and other parts of the country suffered heavy loss of lives and property due to the devastating earthquake.
“This day brings sad memories of the tragedy, however, it also symbolises the resilience of the people of Pakistan and their determination to help brothers and sisters in time of need,” he added. The president said the National Disaster Management Act, 2010, had created a disaster management system.
“We need to safeguard infrastructure, crop, livestock, life and property in order to withstand the impact of natural calamities through a robust implementation mechanism,” he said. He said building local response capacity was equally essential and the provincial governments’ efforts to prioritise Disaster Risk Management (DRM) in their policies and practices were critical.
The president said that by enhancing response capacity, there was need to promote awareness, fine tune mitigation strategies and ensure preparedness at the community levels.
“Resultantly, a risk free environment can be ensured for our coming generation,” he added.
Separately, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif called upon stakeholders to play their role in dealing with disasters.
In a message on the National Disaster Awareness Day, he said the government was cognisant of the fact that the disasters were increasing both in intensity and frequency.
“Hence the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) and all other stakeholders are required to play their part to the anticipated new risks and plan accordingly,” he added.
The prime minister said, “We cannot afford to lose our hard earned development and, therefore, we need to have disaster risk reduction sensitive development. Disaster Risk Management (DRM) calls for greater involvement and ownership of all stakeholders for national policies, strategies and plans for disaster risk management.”
He said the formulation of Pakistan’s first ever National Disaster Risk Reduction Policy and Ten Year’s National Disaster Management Plan (2012-2022) by the government were the steps in right direction.
The prime minister also stressed upon the need to enhance knowledge of common man on disaster risk management and preparedness in situation of natural calamities.
“I hope the National Disaster Awareness Day will provide the required impetus to the disaster management planners and practitioners to redefine their thoughts and realign their plans in accordance with the realities,” he added.
The prime minister noted that Pakistan was vulnerable to wide-ranging hazards such as earthquakes, floods, landslides, avalanches and glacial lake outbursts. These hazards could generate potential disasters that threatened sustained economic growth by causing loss of lives and property, he said. However, due to improved mechanisms and responsive disaster management institutions, authorities have been able to contain losses to a great extent, he said. app
Courtesy www.dailytimes.com.pk