AIP Conference Proceedings 1891, 020143 (2017); https://doi.org/10.1063/1.5005476 1891, 020143
© 2017 Author(s).
Planning for post disaster recovery: Lesson learnt from flood events in Kelantan Malaysia
Cite as: AIP Conference Proceedings 1891, 020143 (2017); https://doi.org/10.1063/1.5005476 Published Online: 03 October 2017
Wan Nurul Mardiah Wan Mohd Rani, Faizatul Akmar Abdul Nifa, Mohd Noorizhar Ismail, and Khairin Norhashidah Khalid
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Planning for Post Disaster Recovery: Lesson Learnt from flood events in Kelantan Malaysia
Wan Nurul Mardiah Wan Mohd Rani
1, a), Faizatul Akmar Abdul Nifa
2, b), Mohd Noorizhar Ismail
3and Khairin Norhashidah Khalid
21 UTM Razak School of Engineering and Advanced Technology, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, Jalan Sultan Yahya
Petra, 54100 Kuala Lumpur Malaysia.
2 School of Technology Management and Logistics, College of Business, Universiti Utara Malaysia, Sintok, Kedah, Malaysia
. 3 Fakulti Kejuruteraan dan Alam Bina, Universiti Sains Islam Malaysia, Nilai, Negeri Sembilan, Malaysia.
a)Corresponding author: [email protected]
Abstract. As the frequency of disaster occurrence increases, the world cities today are getting more difficult in terms of the management of the event. One of the most discussed issues today is the management of the post-disaster recovery that involves several stages such as the planning, management of multiple stakeholders, restoration, reconstruction and delivery. It is important to note that input from related stakeholders is necessary to make the right decision during this most critical period. In the process of building back after a disaster, it is important to ensure the newly constructed infrastructures are built to be more resilient and able to withstand a certain level of disaster recurrence. Elements of disaster risk reduction should be incorporated in the planning, redesign, construction and the operation of the built environment. In Malaysia, the disaster management has been the responsibility of the Disaster Management and Relief Committee that consists of agencies at the central, state and local levels. This is to ensure that all aspects are being considered and to be more effective in managing the situation.
INTRODUCTION
Planning for Post Disaster Recovery is currently one of the most discussed issue in dealing with the aspects of disaster management. This multidisciplinary debate is crucial to ensure that cities can recover and gain back to its normal state and become more resilient to the upcoming risks and hazards. Based on the definition outlined by the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNISDR), the term disaster refers to “a serious disruption of the functioning of a community or a society involving widespread human, material, economic or environmental losses and impacts, which exceeds the ability of the affected community or society to cope using its own resources.
Disasters are often described as a result of the combination of: the exposure to a hazard; the conditions of vulnerability that are present; and insufficient capacity or measures to reduce or cope with the potential negative consequences. Disaster impacts may include loss of life, injury, disease and other negative effects on human physical, mental and social well-being, together with damage to property, destruction of assets, loss of services, social and economic disruption and environmental degradation” [1].
In general, disaster can be classified into two categories; man-made disaster and natural disaster [2]. Flooding can be extremely hazardous and it may pose a significant risk to infrastructure and potential loss of life. Flooding is
a catastrophe that can cover a large geographic area, or occur in numerous locations concurrently. Health risks can occur due to compromised sewage systems or contaminated drinking water supplies. Forecasting for flooding can allow for advanced planning. Flood occurrence in East Malaysia has been forecasted and it usually occurs in the monsoon season (November – January). However, despite the early forecast, the severity of such event is usually out of the expectation. Hence, the readiness of the related stakeholders is crucial of immediate response and rescue to reduce the impact from the event. It is proven that organizations that are prepared are better positioned to respond to disruptive events [3]. As our world today is facing rapid urbanization and prone to climate change effects, the occurrence of flood has increased and the areas affected has widespread. Stakeholders today not only need to focus on the aspects of mitigation and prevention but also the aspects of preparedness in dealing with this catastrophe. The awareness and readiness among the stakeholders in each stage will determine the measures taken for the total disaster risk management cycle.
Post disaster recovery is defined as “the restoration, and improvement where appropriate, of facilities, livelihoods and living conditions of disaster-affected communities, including efforts to reduce disaster risk factors.
The recovery task of rehabilitation and reconstruction begins soon after the emergency phase has ended, and should be based on pre-existing strategies and policies that facilitate clear institutional responsibilities for recovery action and enable public participation. Recovery programmes, coupled with the increased public awareness and engagement after a disaster, afford a valuable opportunity to develop and implement disaster risk reduction measures and to apply the “build back better” principle” [1]. The recovery stage is the most crucial stage because it involves the management of several activities simultaneously. This includes reconstruction of damaged buildings, infrastructures, community facilities, local businesses by different group of stakeholders, people within limited capacities. This paper explores the steps undertaken in the physical planning for post-disaster recovery and how the stakeholders can cooperate to ensure the redevelopment of the disaster-prone area are built with resilience for long term sustainability.
ROUTE TO POST-DISASTER RECOVERY
In Malaysia, based on the 11th Malaysia Plan (2016-2020), focus of the nation development is to focus on the climate change adaptation measures and disaster risk management towards developing disaster resilient cities.
Efforts of the Malaysian Government had been observed since the 10th Malaysia Plan (2011-2015). Among the efforts that has been taken are strengthening the disaster risk management, improve flood mitigation and enhance steps to climate change adaptation [4]. Among the understanding on the processes involved in the disaster management research, stage of recovery has been taken lightly as compared to other stages of disaster such as the preparedness, response and mitigation [5]. Only recently, more efforts have been focusing on the planning for the post-disaster recovery [6][7].
Today, the basis to post-disaster recovery is based on the three crucial policies; Building Back Better, converting adversity into opportunity and prioritizing pro-poor recovery [8]. Multi-stakeholder participation is recognized as one of the significant factor that contributes to the success of post-disaster recovery. However, in reality, commitment of multi-stakeholder is still quite limited particularly within the scope of design, construction and operation processes [9]. In the process of building back after a disaster, it is important to ensure the newly constructed infrastructures are built to be more resilient and able to withstand a certain level of disaster recurrence.
Elements of disaster risk reduction should be incorporated in the planning, redesign, construction and the operation of the built environment. The main actors involved in the post disaster recovery stage are national planning agency, recovery agency, national and local government, civic community and the NGOs [10]. In Malaysia, the disaster management has been the responsibility of the Disaster Management and Relief Committee that consists of agencies at the central, state and local levels. This is to ensure that all aspects are being considered and to be more effective in managing the situation.
CASE STUDY: FLOOD EVENT IN KELANTAN, MALAYSIA
Kelantan is situated at the east coast of Peninsular Malaysia. It is comprised of 14 districts with a population of 1.59million people [11]. States of the East Coast of Peninsular Malaysia is generally known to experience a higher impact during the annual monsoon season, which normally runs through November until January each year. Due to
this, the east coast states; Terengganu, Kelantan and Pahang are most prone and have greater risk to flooding every year. Most of the extensive and severe floods in peninsular Malaysia are associated with the onset of the monsoon seasons. Seasonal floods are caused by heavy rains during the North-East monsoon period. Every year, the Kelantan River is expected to experience overspill of its banks during the monsoon season that happens across November to February. The river consists of seven major Subcatchments (Kota Bahru, Gullimard, Pergau, Kuala Krai, Galas, Lebir and Nenggiri) that cover a drainage area of 13, 170 km [12]. Located along this river are four major towns which are Kota Bahru, Pasir Mas, Tumpat and Kuala Krai. In the 2014 flood event, Kuala Krai, an area of 2329km² recorded the highest number of evacuees with 1257 families lost their homes [13]. The impact of the 2014 flooding to infrastructure was very devastating. The major transportation networks were totally disrupted which left the rescue team limited option to mobilize their team. For more than two weeks, economic activities, schools, main administration function within the area was at halt.
The recent calamity brought upon by the Malaysian east coast great flood in 2014 has caused severe loses of life, property and wellbeing of those within the affected areas. In the months following the disaster, the reconstruction process has begun through the community participation guided by non-governmental organizations, owner-driven and donor-driven methods which have seen various government agencies working towards rebuilding what used to be a thriving community. There is however the issue of handling the financial aid as well as logistics arrangements of the assistance within the disaster affected areas. A recent study conducted shown that there is a lack of coordination among the parties involved in the post-disaster reconstruction and also an overlapping of responsibility among the agencies at state and federal level, causing confusion as to who should be in charge of the reconstruction process. In regards to the 2014 flood in the east coast of Malaysia, [14] have discussed the need for an integrated team that is comprised of various expertise that not only can provide flood risk assessment and socioeconomic impact, and plays the technical role in deciding on the types and the suitable scale of mitigation for the infrastructures, costs and other factors as well.
On the post-disaster recovery, as for the statistics on the housing reconstruction, there are approximately 1280 new houses has been built through the affected areas in Kelantan by the Ministry of Works (JKR). Despite the recovery efforts coordinated by the federal and state government, there seem to have issues in terms of the long-term recovery [15]. The coordination between stakeholders including the assistance from volunteers are poor [16]. Hence, it has impacted the process of recovery to the area and local community and had taken longer period to return to the normal state. Though there have been many research conducted on the disaster management, efforts on to minimize the future impact still lacking particularly on the implementation aspects.
The following Figure 1, 2 and 3 below displays the photo of the completed permanent housing by federal government, state governments and NGO (3rd Force) in 3 different locations in Kelantan taken by the authors during the fieldtrips to the affected area in Kelantan from October 2016 up till December 2016.
(a) (b)
FIGURE 1. Group permanent housing by (a) Federal government and (b) corporate donors in Kampung Telekong, district of Kuala Krai, Kelantan. Photos captured by authors in December 2016.
FIGURE 2. Group permanent housing by Selangor State Government near Manek Urai, Kelantan. Photo captured by authors in December 2016.
FIGURE 3. Group permanent housing by local NGO The 3rd Force in Batu Balai, district of Kuala Krai, Kelantan. Photo captured by authors in October 2016.
Based on the authors’ ongoing research in Kelantan, as of December 2016 exactly 2 years after the 2014 great flood, there were approximately 5% of the victims who were still living in temporary housing due to the issues with land acquisition and ownership which has delayed the construction of permanent homes by the Federal government.
Figure 4 portrays the photos taken during the authors’ field work in December 2016 at group temporary housing near Kuala Krai, Kelantan which were constructed by a local NGO (Mercy Malaysia) and the Kelantan Islamic State Council (MAIK).
(a) (b)
FIGURE 4. Group temporary housing by (a) local NGO Mercy Malaysia and (b) State agency MAIK. Photos captured by authors in December 2016.
CONCLUSION
Steps taken on Post-Disaster Recovery
The planning of post-disaster recovery is to ensure that the redevelopment of recovery plan can support and guide the long-term recovery efforts and sustainability. The physical planning of post-disaster recovery should be considered as the long-term recovery and redevelopment phase which include effort to reconstruct and enhance the built environment while at the same time recover the economic, environment and social systems [17]. At the early stage, it is important to identify the roles and responsibilities of stakeholders such as key persons, related agencies and department. With the right group of people on board, to facilitate the post-disaster redevelopment, it is important to have the redevelopment plan in place. A post-disaster redevelopment plan is a set of document that identifies the policies, operational strategies, processes and the roles and scopes of all the stakeholders. The scope shall include aspects that would integrate long-term hazard mitigation, public safety and resilience goals. Specifically, the plan shall address measures that would assist economic redevelopment, housing repair and reconstruction, infrastructure restoration, sustainable land use, environmental restoration and other long-term recovery issues as identified by the local community [9;7]. With this input, decision makers would better be informed on the policy recommendations.
Finally, the most important aspect is the conduct public information activities to ensure that the local community is aware on the on-going efforts, available funding and assistance that they can utilize and capitalize.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The authors would like to thank the Ministry of Education, Malaysia and Universiti Utara Malaysia for funding this research under the Fundamental Research Grant Scheme 2016 (FRGS S/O code: 13575).
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