A Japan Disaster Relief (JDR) Expert Team will help prepare a comprehensive national action plan for disaster risk reduction which meets the long term needs of the country, Disaster Management Minister Anura Priyadarshana Yapa said yesterday.
The team is also expected to prepare a plan on rehabilitation and recovery of the affected areas. The minister said that the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) was coordinating the efforts and also will provide necessary funds for the programmes implementation.
Yapa said that such a plan will also improve the efficiency of the relevant institutions to respond more efficiently and effectively to potential natural disasters.
The Minister said that no deadline was specified, so as to when the strategic plan would be implemented but the formation of the plan would start at the end of June. Speaking at a media briefing at the Disaster Management Ministry yesterday, he also said that a Japanese expert team including 10 members arrived in Sri Lanka to provide a report on the damages caused by the heavy rainfall.
Yapa said that river banks should be declared as buffer zones to take precautionary actions against potential disasters for the betterment of the country.
Legal guidelines should be implemented to enforce mandatory evacuation in order to reduce the damage from natural disasters, he added. National Building Research Organization (NBRO) Landslides Research and Disaster Management Division Director R.M.S. Bandara said that people from over 1,400 locations had been evacuated temporarily to investigate on the potential risks of landslides. Meanwhile, JICA said the Disaster Relief (JDR) Expert Team Arrived in Colombo on Saturday and commenced a survey in the disaster areas.
The team had commenced their mission with an aerial survey on Sunday.
“They will continue with the field survey by visiting the disaster sites this week along with the officials of Ministry of Disaster Management, Irrigation Department, and the National Building Research Organization,” the JICA said.