Myanmar disaster risk assessment map in offing
By Pyae Thet Phyo
The Ministry of Social Welfare, Relief and Resettlement has been drafting a disaster risk assessment map to mitigate the impact of natural disaster and improve responsiveness to such events, Relief Minister U Win Myat Aye said on Thursday at a workshop.
“This workshop aimed to know where disasters occur by drawing risk maps. It can be of great help. We will be prepared for natural disasters. When it happens, there will be less damage,” he told The Myanmar Times.
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“As we all know, we have an issue with the availability of data. So, in drafting the guidelines for the map, we will need to get real data that are required for an actual assessment using reliable data sources,” he said.
As a National Level Disaster Risk Assessment cannot be carried out in Myanmar for the time being, relevant assessments depend on the findings international organisations, said U Win Myat Aye.
“If we can organise assessments throughout the country, we can compare and review the occurrences and impacts of disasters between regions and states,” he said.
Such research will contribute to decision-making on natural disaster response by allowing the country to prioritise high-risk regions. It would also benefit budget distribution, and disaster management procedures would be more effective, he said.
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