Kamala Community Involvement In Risk Reduction

[Jai Dee]

Kamala Community involvement in risk reduction

The villagers of Phuket’s Ban Kamala, an old fishing community which later turned to rely on tourism, is now much more under the spotlight and pressure to find on what’s going on in the community, especially when it comes to risk reduction and prevention for future natural disasters as well as preparedness in advance. The terrible tsunami on December 26th 2004 has given them the most terrifying and expensive experience in their lives they have ever faced.

They clearly expressed their appreciation for all the assistance which has poured in, but admitted that it is difficult to rebuild normal lives and careers again. It will never be the same.

The community recently gathered at a sub-district administration office for a seminar on disaster risk reduction and creating a safer community. The seminar was conducted by the Asian Disaster Preparedness Center or ADPC team led by its consultant, Dr Pichit Rattakul, who was also ex Governor of Bangkok, with the support of the United Nations Development Program or UNDP. “The first approach is to have them well aware that there is risk, and also there is ways to reduce the risk. So we want them to start to look at how to reduce the risk that they face every day. That is the first plan; the second is to train in the framework of our ADPC and UNDP program for them to manage and turn things around in a better way during a crisis when it happens.”

ADPC firmly believe that communities are at the frontline of disasters. Over the last two decades it has become apparent that top-down approaches to disaster risk management alone fail to address the specific local needs of vulnerable communities, often ignoring the local capacities and resources. This was particularly highlighted after the tsunami.

ADPC, which is a non-profit organization supporting the advancement of safer communities and sustainable development throughout Asia, believes that community action for disaster risk management is a crucial element in promoting a “culture of prevention” and creating safer communities. During this seminar in Kamala, villagers voiced their needs and concerns as well as helped identify risk factors which they thought included a shallow canal connected to the sea which needs to be dredged and also assessed carefully by experts.

These communities like Kamala have mainly Thai Buddhist and Muslim residents living alongside long term foreign residents and short term tourists. It had a mixture of residential houses and tourist buildings right on the beachfront, and they suffered badly when the tsunami slammed into their communities on a sleepy Boxing Day morning. It is taking a long time for communities to recover and prepare for future possible disasters whilst also opening up again to welcome tourists.

The ADPC also discussed local evacuation plans in case of another tsunami and redevelopments plans to attract tourists and they returned again 2 weeks later and will come again in November, to put those plans into action, but Dr Pichit told us that they would also like to get more local and foreign residents, whether they speak Thai or English, to become more involved in local plans for evacuations and redevelopments.

The 2nd meeting and training program followed at the new College of Disaster Prevention & Mitigation Office in Phuket. The new facility is one of six colleges nationwide set up to help prevent disasters and minimize their effects under a curriculum for the first course developed by the Thai government’s Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation working with the UNDP and the ADPC. The first 150 students undergoing the five-day program included groups from Phuket, Krabi and Phang Nga. They are receiving in-depth training in community-based disaster risk management, which aims to reduce the risk of disasters by increasing public awareness.

After the first day of this training and more meetings in local communities, Dr Pichit was quite satisfied with the local villagers’ participation and contributions for the safety of their own communities.

The Asian Disaster Preparedness Center is returning again to Kamala and other communities like the world famous but equally devastated Phi Phi island, to assure that their main objectives of raising community awareness and culture of prevention is practiced among local communities, especially those who live along the shorelines to prevent the tragic history from repeating itself. Dr. Pichit concluded: “We will come back on 14 November for another meeting about the villagers’ plan, not our plan, but under the ADPC and UNDP framework.”

Source: Special Report for Andaman News TV11 Phuket, broadcast for 3 provinces: Phuket, Phang Nga & Krabi & FM90.5 Phuket, 8.30am Wednesday 12 October 2005 & www.ThaiSnews.com