Deputy Prime Min­is­ter Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said a National Dis­aster Man­age­ment Coun­cil is pro­posed to be estab­lished as the highest body respons­ible for coordin­at­ing dis­aster man­age­ment and dis­aster risk reduc­tion.

Ahmad Zahid, who is also National Dis­aster Man­age­ment Com­mit­tee chair­man, said he had instruc­ted the National Dis­aster Man­age­ment Agency (Nadma) to pre­pare a Cab­inet paper to be cir­cu­lated to all min­is­tries for feed­back.

“Within a month, it will be cir­cu­lated for review, and I will per­son­ally present it (at a Cab­inet meet­ing).

“(In) upgrad­ing the Cent­ral Dis­aster Man­age­ment Com­mit­tee to the National Dis­aster Man­age­ment Coun­cil, we want dis­aster man­age­ment to be sig­ni­fic­antly enhanced.”

Ahmad Zahid said the cur­rent national dis­aster man­age­ment mech­an­ism through the Cent­ral Dis­aster Man­age­ment Com­mit­tee needs to be fur­ther strengthened.

“At present, the exist­ing com­mit­tee does not yet involve the dir­ect par­ti­cip­a­tion of men­teri besar and chief min­is­ters, even though state gov­ern­ments hold key author­ity over devel­op­ment, land use and water resource man­age­ment, crit­ical factors that influ­ence dis­aster risk and impact.

“There is also a need for the full involve­ment of fed­eral min­is­ters who have the man­date and capa­city to coordin­ate in an integ­rated man­ner across min­is­tries and agen­cies, allow­ing decisions to be made more quickly, decis­ively and effect­ively.” – Bernama