19 OCTOBER 2019
OVER the past decade, the world has witnessed a series of increasingly devastating natural disasters. Natural disasters are not preventable. The number and intensity of natural disasters has been rising year by year. The worst part is disasters often become transnational, and a disaster in one country can also become a challenge for other countries.
But, we can use preparedness to reduce the impact of disasters through resilience-building efforts.
With a growing population and infrastructure, the world’s exposure to hazards is increasing. A total of 394 natural disasters occurred in 2018 and most of them happened in Asia. The disasters killed over 10,300 children and caused losses to the tune of US$66 billion.
Over 17 million people abandoned their homes due to climate change-induced disasters last year. The impact of the disasters in the developing and least developed countries was six times higher than in developed countries, in terms of loss of life and property and emergency aids.
Myanmar was struck by an extremely severe cyclonic storm — Nargis — on 2 and 3 May, 2008. The storm was the worst natural disaster in Myanmar in recorded history, and caused large-scale destruction and at least 138,373 fatalities.
People are still suffering from the bitter consequences of storm Nargis.
Among the disasters, earthquakes and tsunamis kill the most people, followed by storms and floods.
In Myanmar, Yangon, Mandalay, Bago, and Nay Pyi Taw are located on a fault. Some parts of Myanmar experience floods every year. It has been found that housing, transportation, agriculture, and livestock sectors are hit the hardest by disasters in our country.
The destruction has shown that our infrastructure is not disaster proof.
Dams and reservoirs built for the development of the country can cause disasters, if they have no resilience.
There have been growing calls for greater engagement of the construction industry in disaster-resilient building efforts.
The infrastructure in our country should be resilient to disasters. A major mitigating factor for disaster risk is capacity.
This capacity needs to be deployed before and after a hazard strikes a community. Effective mitigation and preparedness can greatly reduce the threat posed by hazards of all types, while post-disaster response can impact the loss of life, and timely reconstruction can minimize the broader economic and social damage.
Investment in infrastructure is worth it as it can help save lives and property. Developers can contribute to the development of a more disaster-resilient society.
We would like to ask developers to focus on making each structure they construct disaster-resilient.
THE GLOBAL NEW LIGHT OF MYANMAR
