Building capacity through school based engagement on dam safety program in Cameron Highlands

Melaka Declaration on Disaster Risk Reduction in Malaysia (2011) captured the future direction of the country on disaster risk reduction as well as its efforts towards implementing the priority areas for the Sendai Framework, 2015–2030 and together with SDG11 (Sustainable Goals 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities) and SDG13 (Sustainable Goals 13: Climate Change). Therefore, in supporting the government initiatives, Tenaga Nasional Berhad (TNB) as the owner of most of the largest dams in Malaysia, has put into action an initiative in community engagement program for disaster risk awareness campaign in the context to increase the community awareness and preparedness. This paper presents a school-based engagement as part of the community engagement program conducted for Pos Telanok community in Cameron Highlands. This was the pioneer program, which was conducted at SK Telanok involving 290 students and staffs. Programs was organised in a few phases starting from November 2018 including awareness campaign, Dam Safety Day, evacuation exercises and CSR. These activities are aimed to educate the school community in Pos Telanok who are vulnerable to flood risk in the event of dam failure, to be more prepared and resilient to face the disasters. The program provides exposure to schoolchildren and staffs on the right actions to be taken during emergencies. On the other hand, the program to strengthen the preparedness of dam owner, local authorities and emergency responders involved with local communities during emergencies

Safe havens and evacuation routes due to dam disaster

The aim of the paper is to review the important framework and understanding for the safe havens and evacuation routes due to dam disaster.There is estimated amount of 33,000 dams around the world today in the category of large dams. From the year of 1800, there are about 300 major dam failure occurred, causing thousands of casualties. Although dam owners have taken all the possible precautions, the possibility of incidents to occur remains there due to controlled and uncontrolled situations. In Malaysia, there are more than 20 large dams available, built for different purpose ranging from hydro power generation, water supply, crop irrigation and also for flood mitigation. The first large dam constructed in Malaysia is Bukit Merah Dam in Kerian, Perak in the year of 1906 and the construction continues until the most recent dam, Susu Dam in Jelai, Pahang, completed in the year of 2016. TNB being the dam owner of large dams for hydro power generation in Malaysia for example, has 14 large dams with the largest being the Kenyir Dam in Terengganu, having the capacity of 13,600 million cubic meters of water and dam high of 150 meters. The paper reviews the aspect of safe havens and evacuation routes in order to secure the surrounding communities. It also covers on how the community evacuate safely from the disaster. Based on this framework, it is hoped that the paper will be a useful addition to the body of knowledge and understanding for the safe havens and evacuation routes and also a safety and awareness community during the disaster

Inclusive disaster risk management (DRM) for Bertam valley community

This paper focuses on the inclusiveness of Disaster Risk Management. The study assesses proactive adaptation of Early Warning System (EWS) for Disaster Risk Reduction Program in Bertam Valley. The study aims to identify community preferences as an initiative to improve the effectiveness of the EWS system. In order to sustain the awareness and preparedness of EWS, continuous involvement by the community is necessary to make them resilient. Specific focus is given to Person with Disabilities (PwDs), elderly and children. Therefore, it is vital to understand the efficient methods to alarm PwDs, elderly and children during emergencies occurrence, which will focus on the implementation of types of alarm in EWS with regards to the early warning alarm and emergency notification. The finding from this paper is useful to assist local authorities and emergency responder in the formulation of warning and evacuation procedures to save the PwDs if dam failure is imminent

Community preparedness towards dam disaster: Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) program in Cameron Highlands

Dam disaster occurrences are an unexpected event that occurs suddenly without warning. It has become very alarming, resulting in a catastrophic break followed by a flood wave at high speed with considerable loss of life and catastrophic damages to infrastructure and the environment. Given these circumstances, the community preparedness for disaster risk reduction (DRR) is important to strengthen disaster response strategies. It helps the community to understand the situations to face disaster and interact with present conditions with efficient manners. The research aims to investigate the community awareness and preparedness and the effectiveness of the DRR program toward dam-related disaster. In this research, two dams in Cameron Highland have been selected as sites study: Sultan Abu Bakar (SAB) Hydroelectric Scheme and its vicinity in Lembah Bertam; and Susu Dam and its vicinity in Pos Telanok. The research utilised questionnaire surveys as a data collection method, where Statistical Package Software SPSS Version 25 was used to analyse data. The finding indicates that an integrated community-based program is an effective approach to increase people's preparedness for the disaster. The result can assist local agencies and dam owners in formulating strategies for future DRR programs. Identifying these pertinent factors enables a greater understanding of the community's preparedness for disaster risk reduction (DRR) in both dams of Cameron Highlands

Respondents' area of preference when disaster strikes: a case study of Cameron Highland

Disaster can be understood as the probability or threat of quantifiable damage, injury, liability, loss, or any other negative occurrence that is caused by external or internal vulnerabilities that required an immediate action. Therefore, this study intends to understand respondents’ preferences of location when disaster strikes their settlements/ villages. Their responses are important to indicate their preparedness when facing disaster. Data collection was employed using the questionnaire survey method to the 11 villages. The selection of population was based on a cluster random sampling to ensure equal probability chances were given to every individual in every village. A total of 847 responses were able to be used for data analysis. The results show that the respondents’ knowledge on safe location was influenced by their demographic background. In addition, their experience with disasters and residential area also influenced their area of preference to seek refuge in the event of a disaster. Thus, an active promotion of such information related to risk management and reduction should be varied to cater the unique characteristics of the population

INCEPTION OF 3Es IN PROMOTING DISASTER RESILIENT COMMUNITIES LIVING NEAR HYDROPOWER DAMS OF PENINSULAR MALAYSIA

Excessive rain pattern has been the major cause contributing to flooding of low land due to excess water release from affected dams. This deliberate measure has to be taken to prevent the catastrophic effect of a dam break scenario. Therefore, this kind of disaster is considered as a local phenomenon. The local communities are the vulnerable population to face the immediate impact of such disaster. Needless to mention that they are also first emergency responders which is crucial for saving lives. It is therefore imperative for the involved stakeholders to improve local communities’ resilience to dam related disasters. This resonates well with the Hyogo Framework for Action, which identify local communities as integral cornerstone for saving lives and livelihoods. In the case of communities living near main hydropower dams owned by Tenaga Nasional Berhad, an initiative known as Integrated Community Based Disaster Management (ICBDM) has been launched in May 2015. This initiative adopts the concept of 3Es; embrace, educate and empower. The priority is to ensure the vulnerable communities embrace the reality, being educated to face any upcoming situation as well as being empowered to take charge of immediate live saving efforts in the future. The initiative involves five key scopes encompassing technical and non-technical areas and promotes the strategic partnerships between dam owner, authority and the community. It is anticipated that this initiative will build the resilience of communities to dam related disaster

Utilization of unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) in dam disaster management: evacuation planning

With the increase of world population and eventually the increase in populated areas at disaster prone areas, a disaster that previously would have been low in risk, is getting more catastrophic each year. Various counter measures are being undertaken to ensure that the impact of a disaster is being well mitigated to ensure the safety and sustainability of the population at risk. This paper will be looking at more depth on the use of Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) in emergency preparedness, particularly towards the identification effective evacuation routes, in order for the targeted population to safely reach the identified safe haven

Dam safety evacuation planning for community downstream of Pergau Dam, Jeli, Kelantan (case study of Kg Batu Melintang)

Dam safety evacuation planning is crucial to ensure the sustainability of hydro dam operations in the surrounding environment. One of the critical aspects that are being focused on at the moment is the dam safety for the community downstream of the dam itself, which normally will be the first to receive the direct impact from a dam-related incident. In this paper, focusing on the potential disaster of dam failure and the evacuation planning for the community downstream of a dam will be focused on. As a case study, the community downstream of Pergau Dam, covering the most populated area known as Kampung Batu Melintang, will be looked into. Evacuation planning covers mostly the evacuation route, evacuation shelter, and most importantly the critical function of an early warning system to initiate early preparation for evacuation

Dam related disaster framework for emergency preparedness

Continuous approach and solution in solving resilience over a few decades are yet to resolve the main issue in developing sustainable development, disaster risk reduction and new challenges on climate change. Current frameworks that have been developed tend to be over-generalized which required major changes in developing effective frameworks appropriate for specific disaster phenomena. To address this issue, a clear objective and approach are required to help the community, authorities and government to enhance preparedness and response in case of disaster. The main objective of this paper is to present the theory and analysis in the development of effective disaster risk reduction framework for dam related disaster (DRD). With the intention of strengthening societal capacity for resilience, this paper will introduce the framework for disaster preparedness to bridge readiness among community, agency and dam owners. The methodology employed to develop a framework based on ICBDM model conducted in the study area, utilising surveys questionnaire, FGD and hazard assessment. The framework established detailed flow of response throughout all phases including pre-event, during event and post event which include hazard assessment, community and authority planning, establishment of emergency and safe passage, and aims to minimize loss of life and injury. In practice, this framework poses as an interactive and cohesive community approach to face dam related disasters (DRD) which will enhance overall response in disaster risk reduction programs