Siaw (fifth left) presents the directory to Inting.
SIBU: The role of community leaders in disaster management is important to ensure that assistance from various government agencies can be delivered smoothly, Sibu Resident Charles Siaw has said.
He regards the community leaders as the first responders who provide information to the agencies and also channel aid to the community.
“The community leaders are the people in those affected areas and they are the first persons to take action to enable us give our assistance as soon as possible.
“We want to see how they can help, so that all the assistance can be delivered smoothly,” he spoke at the launch of an awareness programme under Sibu Disaster and Relief Management Committee yesterday.
Siaw said exposing the community leaders to actions to be taken as first responders was one of the objectives of the programme.
According to him, the Sibu Disaster and Relief Management Committee covers Sibu, Selangau and Kanowit, which are high-risk areas in terms of disasters, especially floods and landslides.
Citing his own first experience in managing disaster in Selangau when he took over as Sibu Resident about a year ago, he said there was a need to always be ready for any disaster in these three districts.
“The flooding in Selangau last year caught me off guard, but due to cooperation from various agencies, we were able to provide our assistance smoothly,” he said, adding that the flood was very sudden and was compounded by the inundation in the surrounding areas.
He said from that experience, the committee had come up with a directory of GPS and schools in those areas.
On the programme, Saiw said other objectives included creating awareness of actions that needed to be taken in times of disaster and to convince the people that the government was always concerned in times of disaster.
It was also to explain the roles of each agency in the Disaster and Relief Management Committee in times of emergency, to the local community through community leaders, he added.
“It is also to create a strong cooperation between government, non-governmental organisations and local communities in facing any disaster.”
Also present at the event were Selangau District Officer Inting Nyami, local Civil Defence Force officer Capt Frankie John Jawan, Sibu Division Health officer Dr Teh Jo Hun, Fire and Rescue Department Sibu zone acting chief Wan Kamarudin Wan Ahmad and Temenggong Stanley Geramong.