Post-disaster housing and management in Malaysia: a literature review

Purpose – Malaysia is still in the process of reorganising and restructuring disaster management policy, learning from the national and international experiences. Argument about current situation of emergency management and housing in Malaysia can be used by the decision makers, authorities and NGOs to develop strategies and actions that include awareness raising and capacity building for enhancing enforcement of current legislation. Design/methodology/approach - The work concentrated mostly on academic reports of original investigations rather than reviews. The conclusions in this paper are generalizations based on the author's interpretation of those original reports. Findings - Malaysia is not a developed country and also not a developing country but more in the middle, follows any direction from the international arena to national situation. Malaysia has a developed country approach in disaster management policy but with the implementation of developing country. This paper argues that providing post disaster housing must accommodate requirement in the national disaster management policy and parallel with the needs from international concern to the rights of disaster victims. Originality/value - The outcomes from this discussion might give insights into designing and planning the national policy and disaster management framework by restructuring and reorganising the present National Disaster Management Mechanism in terms of enhancing the coordination of responsibility between and within government bodies in the National Disaster Management Mechanism

Key Lessons and Guidelines for Post-Disaster Permanent Housing Provision in Kelantan, Malaysia

In Kelantan, those who have experienced flood almost every year are reluctant to leave their homes due to land ownership matters. It is not guaranteed that they are able to secure their homes from flooding in the future. It was reported that the houses should be built on stilts, which can withstand certain levels of impact during flooding. Unfortunately, until today no specific guidelines have been available to assist homebuilders to rebuild post-disaster homes in Malaysia. In addition, there is also no clear operational procedure to monitor the progress of the construction work. However, at the international level, many guidelines have been prepared that have been found to be suitable for post-disaster housing. This research was an attempt to understand recent national disaster mechanism experiences in the housing sector that best describes the situation in Malaysia and that are in line with international practice. The overall objective is to know how to better support humanitarian responses in flood prone areas through post-disasterresilient house construction in flood prone areas. Eighteen key lessons (from 3 steps) emerged from the review process and data analysis, and these have been developed and presented as guidelines. The findings of this research provide insights for enhancing the coordination of responsibility between and within government bodies on the provision of post-disaster permanent housing

Managing disasters in Malaysia : the attitude of officials towards compliance with the MNSC Directive 20

This research focused on pre and post-disaster planning in Malaysia since the adoption of the Hyogo Framework for Action (HFA) 2005–20 15 and national Vision 2020. A review of the existing research and practice in Malaysia including the structure and attitude of government officers at central and local authorities to risk was the starting point. The regulatory compliance to the Malaysia National Security Council MNSC Directive 20 programme is a key focus. The MNSC Directive 20 exists as the important core of disaster regulation in Malaysia but the implementation is not according to plan and regulatory compliance was low. Failures in regulation and compliance were identified as the key vulnerability and disaster causes in Malaysia. The beneficiaries were actually unaware of non-compliance that exposed them to hazard. In general, the more developed Asian economies, of which Malaysia is one, have not devoted much attention to pre-disaster planning despite a rapidly growing capital stock of buildings including public and private housing. Although the Asian Development Bank has provided templates for pre-disaster planning, the uptake has been slow. This Malaysian case study is an important example, not just for the country but the region. The aim of this research is to highlight shortfalls in provision, training and awareness, and to recommend ways of improvement. Gathered actors’ perspectives in the implementation of regulatory compliance in all level of emergency management system in Malaysia helps to explain the reason of regulatory compliance failures. Measuring their attitudes towards regulatory compliance reveals actual commitment because regulatory compliance would require making changes to existing barriers in the administrative environment. These changes would have to be based, to a large extent, on how actors’ perceived and judged the benefits of regulatory compliance implementation. The research uses both quantitative and qualitative methods together that involved 484 respondents. They have broadly negative general attitudes towards regulatory compliance, arguing that currently too many barriers are present in department levels to make regulatory compliance implementation straightforward. They need informative advice and guidance to enable them to see the very probable societal benefits that can lead towards regulatory compliance development. The research concludes by categorising obstacles that need to be overcome, to encourage actors to accept regulatory compliance and recommends changes to department structures, systems and practices prior to regulatory compliance implementation

Prediction of Elevated Temperature Flexural Strength of Lightweight Foamed Concrete Strengthened with Polypropylene Fibre and Fly Ash

This paper focuses on an experimental investigation and statistical analysis of elevated temperature flexural strengths of lightweight foamed concrete (LFC) strengthened with polypropylene fiber (PF) and fly ash (FA) up to 600°C. Five mixes of LFC with 600, 800, 1000, 1200 and 1400 kg/m³ densities were made and tested in current exploration. Two mixes were casted by substituting 15% and 30% of cement content with FA and in other two series; PF was added to LFC mix, correspondingly by 0.2% and 0.4% of binder volume, one controlled mixture without additives was also fabricated. From the experimental results, it can be concluded that the lessening of LFC flexural strength exposed to elevated temperature may be mainly due to the formation of micro cracks at temperature exceeding 93°C since the flexural strength is unfavourably influenced by formation of cracks so that a rigorous strength loss was experiential at 600°C and the flexural strength was only about 40% of its original value. In order to predict the flexural strength of LFC at high temperatures, some existing models applied for normal strength concrete have been considered. The most consistent model for predicting flexural strength of LFC strengthened with PF and FA and also LFC made by ordinary Portland Cement CEM1 at elevated temperature is Li and Guo prediction model. Keywords: foamed concrete, flexural strength, bending strength, elevated temperature, polypropylene fiber, fly as

ABANDONMENT OF PUBLIC HOUSING PROJECTS WITHIN REAL ESTATE SECTOR OF PAKISTAN

Complex processes and relationships between various actors and practices leave public housing projects in the state of abandonment. In Pakistan, the laws offered by the government at federal and provincial levels have not yet administered the abandoned housing and real estate sector. Despite the development strategies, the deserted housing schemes are common in cities, leaving purchasers as the actual victims to get affected adversely socially and economically and act as factors of slow down for the national economic growth. This paper discusses the gaps to address the challenges and issues associated with abandoned housing projects as well as regulating residential properties within the real estate sector in Pakistan. A scarce yet considerableliterature was reviewed along with primary data in form of semi-structured interviews, for describing the body knowledge to highlight the several dimensions of housing adornment in the context of public projects

Treatment of Acute Otitis Media with Inner Ear Involvement in Adults

Inner ear involvement (IED) is a rare local complication of the very common acute otitis media (AOM). The most beneficial treatment for IED remains a matter of debate. The aim of this study is to analyze different treatment modalities based on hearing outcomes to contribute to the discussion of therapy for IED in AOM. This retrospective study includes 112 adult patients diagnosed with AOM with IED between 2000 and 2020. Patients either received conservative (systemic antibiotic and systemic steroid therapy), interventional (conservative plus myringotomy and tympanic tube) or operative (interventional plus antrotomy) treatment. Pre- and post-treatment pure tone audiometry was performed. The hearing outcome was compared, and hearing recovery was analyzed based on modified Siegel’s criteria. The pre-treatment pure tone average (PTA) was significantly (p < 0.05) higher in the operative group than in the other groups. All treatment modalities led to a significant hearing improvement (p < 0.001). The pre- and post-treatment hearing loss was predominantly observed in high frequencies 2–4 kHz. The operative group showed the highest rate of complete hearing recovery. While all treatment modalities led to a significant improvement in hearing, the operative group showed the most beneficial hearing results in patients with high pre-treatment hearing loss. It remains to be shown if the findings in patients with high pre-treatment hearing loss can be generalized to patients with mild or moderate pre-treatment hearing loss

Residents’ Perception of the Affordability of Private Housing Schemes: Lessons from Aden, Yemen

AbstractOver decades, the housing sector in Yemen has suffered from housing supply shortages and the inability to meet the households’ housing demands. Since the Unification of Northern and Southern territories of Yemen in the 1990s, the issue of housing affordability has become a major concern in the growing urban sectors of the Yemeni cities including Aden. While, before Unification, the people in Aden have utilized public welfare housing where only they paid a nominal rent for their housing. The people were unaccustomed to a home purchase. After Unification, however the government has discontinued the welfare housing system, and the private sector has dominated the market for the housing service provision. This paper aims to investigate the residents’ perception of the affordability of housing provided by the private sector, and the extent to which the private housing schemes are able to meet the housing needs of Aden (the economic and commercial capital of Yemen) population. A questionnaire survey was conducted. The sample of the study was 369 of resident's respondents. The results of the study showed that the housing cost in Aden was beyond the reach of the majority of the population and that most families in Aden were financially incapable of purchasing the private houses without credit availability. It also showed that the majority of the respondents in both projects assisted that their housing condition is inadequate in quality. The study recommends that efforts should be undertaken by the local housing authority to facilitate financial support to potential home buyers of low-cost housing projects as well as enforcing more flexible house purchase mechanism for the benefit of the people. On the supply side, it is also important for the housing developers to enhance their performance level during the housing construction stages. More concerted efforts are necessary to resolve Aden housing problems in the long term

Water Salinity Evaluation Suitability for Settlement After Ten Year Tsunami in Banda Aceh, Indonesia

Banda Aceh is a residential area that is most severely impacted by the earthquake and tsunami on December 26, 2004. Recently, ten years after the incident, many settlements were rebuilt. As a disaster-prone areas, Banda Aceh would need to be evaluated against the settlement area base on water salinity. The focus of the study centered on the application of geographic information systems in handling spatial data bearing capacity of the land into the concept of the FAO land suitability. To ensure the application works, it requires geospatial analysis compiled based on the salinity of the water variables that can be observed and measured for the residential requirements. The results showed that 86 percent (ordo S) suitable for residential areas and 14 per cent (ordo N) is not suitable.Banda Aceh adalah daerah pemukiman yang paling parah terkena dampak gempa dan tsunami pada 26 Desember 2004. Baru-baru ini, sepuluh tahun setelah kejadian tersebut banyak pemukiman yang dibangun kembali. Sebagai daerah rawan bencana, evaluasi terhadap kadar salinitas pada basis kawasan pemukiman di Banda Aceh perlu dievaluasi. Fokus dari penelitian ini berpusat pada aplikasi sistem informasi geografis dalam penanganan data spasial terhadap dukung data tanah sesuai dengan konsep kesesuaian lahan FAO. Untuk memastikan aplikasi tersebut sesuai, analisis geospasial disusun berdasarkan variabel salinitas air yang diamati dan diukur sebagai persyaratan pembangunan pemukiman. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan bahwa 86 persen (ordo S) cocok untuk daerah pemukiman dan 14 persen (ordo N) adalah tidak cocok

KLASIFIKASI TANAH DAN PERKEMBANGAN TUTUPAN LAHAN DENGAN PENGOLAHAN DATA LANDSAT DI PULAU SEBESI, KEC. RAJABASA, KAB. LAMPUNG SELATAN

Letusan maha dahsyat gunung Krakatau telah menyebabkan permukaan pulau Sebesi yang tertutup oleh abu vulkanis lebih dari 1 meter, sehingga pulau tersebut banyak ditumbuhi tanaman hutan dan perkebunan. Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk menentukan klasifikasi tanah di Pulau Sebesi sampai tingkat family dan melihat perkembangan tutupan lahan (land cover) di tahun 2013, 2014, dan 2015 dengan pengolahan data landsat. Profil tanah diamati berdasarkan toposequent, sampel tanah diambil pada setiap lapisan pada profil. Pengamatan perubahan tutupan lahan secara visual menggunakan data citra landsat 8 di tahun 2013, 2014, dan 2015. Berdasarkan data dan hasil laboratorium diklasifikasikan masing-masing profil sampai tingkat family (Soil Survey Staff, 2014) profil 1, 2, 4, dan 5 adalah Halus, Ferihidritik, Isohipetermik dan profil 3 adalah Hidrous, Ferihidritik, Isohipetermik, Typic Hapludands. Hasil klasifikasi tutupan lahan secara visual dari analisis data Citra Landsat 8 pada tahun 2013, 2014, 2015, memiliki 4 jenis kelas tutupan lahan : lahan pertanian, pemukiman, hutan, dan lahan terbuka. Pada daerah ini memiliki wilayah hutan yang paling banyak. Hal ini dikarenakan Pulau Sebesi memiliki tingkat kelerengan yang cukup tinggi, sehingga masyarakat susah untuk melakukan pengolahan lahan diatas ketinggian 400 m d.p.l. Kata kunci :gunung Krakatau, pulau Sebesi, Landsat 8, klasifikasi tana

A prospective cohort study of adolescents' memory performance and individual brain dose of microwave radiation from wireless communication

BACKGROUND: The potential impact of microwave radiofrequency electromagnetic fields (RF-EMF) emitted by wireless communication devices on neurocognitive functions of adolescents is controversial. In a previous analysis, we found changes in figural memory scores associated with a higher cumulative RF-EMF brain dose in adolescents. OBJECTIVE: We aimed to follow-up our previous results using a new study population, dose estimation, and approach to controlling for confounding from media usage itself. METHODS: RF-EMF brain dose for each participant was modeled. Multivariable linear regression models were fitted on verbal and figural memory score changes over 1 y and on estimated cumulative brain dose and RF-EMF related and unrelated media usage (n = 669-676). Because of the hemispheric lateralization of memory, we conducted a laterality analysis for phone call car preference. To control for the confounding of media use behaviors, a stratified analysis for different media usage groups was also conducted. RESULTS: We found decreased figural memory scores in association with an interquartile range (IQR) increase in estimated cumulative RF-EMF brain dose scores: 0.22 (95% CI: 0.47, 0.03; IQR: 953 mJ/kg per day) in the whole sample, 0.39 (95% CI: 0.67, 0.10; IQR: 953 mJ/kg per day) in right-side users (n = 532), and 0.26 (95% CI: 0.42, 0.10; IQR: 341 mJ/kg per day) when recorded network operator data were used for RF-EMF dose estimation = 274). Media usage unrelated to RF-EMF did not show significant associations or consistent patterns, with the exception of consistent (nonsignificant) positive associations between data traffic duration and verbal memory. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings for a cohort of Swiss adolescents require confirmation in other populations but suggest a potential adverse effect of RF-EMF brain close on cognitive functions that involve brain regions mostly exposed during mobile phone use