National Integrated Flood Management (IFM) Programme - Role of Community

Following the successful implementation of the National Integrated Flood Management (IFM) Programme - Role of Community 2012 last year in Kuala Lumpur, which was attended by participants from the states of Selangor, Negeri Sembilan, Melaka and Johor, the same programme was again planned for this year, but held only at the State of Pahang on 7th September 2013.

The 2013 event, aimed at raising awareness and disseminating information to communities living in flood-proned areas in the State of Pahang, was organised by the Department of Irrigation and Drainage (DID) Malaysia and MyWP Capacity Building Network (MyCBNet) in collaboration with Malaysian Water Partnership (MyWP) and MyCWP.

The Programme was attended by 120 participants from government agencies, non-government agencies and representatives from the Village Development and Security Committee (JKKK) of each of the districts in Pahang.

In this programme, government and non-government agencies were invited to give presentations and/or demonstrations on appropriate response action plans before, during and after a flood event. Agencies involved were National Security Council State of Pahang, Malaysia Civil Defence Department State of Pahang, Fire and Rescue Department of Malaysia State of Pahang, Kuantan District Health Office, Malaysian Red Crescent (Pahang Branch). During this session, roles of each agency, action plans before, during and after flood were presented, while experiences of flood evacuation and aid were shared. First aid skills (e.g. CPR, bandage etc.) were demonstrated by Malaysian Red Crescent (Pahang Branch) and Malaysia Civil Defence Department State of Pahang. Other than that, fire fighting gadgets and other educational poster and materials were also presented at the event.

Local media were invited to the event and the IFM 2013 event was reported in four major local newspapers, which were Sinar Harian, Sin Chew Daily, Nanyang Press and China Press.

The IFM - Role of Community 2013 event was organised and implemented successfully and all the objectives were achieved. The participants had acquired knowledge on emergency response plan before, during and after the flood event. As flood is a common occurrence in Malaysia, continuous efforts are needed not just by the Government but by all levels of society in order to minimise and control the level of risks associated with such natural disasters.