Community members identifying hazards and resources in their village, Kg Seri Dayong

MERCY Malaysia launched its first project to enhance disaster preparedness at community level in Malaysia. The Johor Community Preparedness Programme (JCPP) is a pilot project that aims to build partnerships between local governments and community members to help increase disaster preparedness. It also engages community members to take responsibility of their own well being by conducting activities to reduce disaster risk. This involves conducting Town Watching – a hazard mapping technique to raise awareness on the vulnerabilities and the resources in the community.

The JCPP is targeting local government and communities in the districts of Batu Pahat, Segamat and Kota Tinggi which are among the worst flood affected districts in Johor.

With support from the Majlis Keselamatan Negara, the JCPP began in late 2009 with a workshop to introduce disaster risk reduction (DRR) to local government officials. In 2010 the project is in full swing.

In March this year a one-day workshop was held for 21 local government officials in Batu Pahat. Participants learnt about town watching and how to use it as a tool to raise awareness and reduce disaster risk at the community level. This was followed by a Town Watching workshop for 50 community members from Kg Seri Dayong in Batu Pahat. By the end of the workshop the participants were able to identify some possible activities they could do to build disaster preparedness and raise awareness.

The possible DRR activities identified by the community members included developing posters and sign boards with DRR messages, conducting a community First Aid training session, conducting a school watching workshop, and developing a DRR brochure that included local knowledge on disaster preparedness. MERCY Malaysia will hold further discussions with the community to support them to implement some of these projects.

Community members attending town watching workshop in Kg Seri Dayong

The same two-day programme was held in Kota Tinggi in April. 18 local government officials participated in the town watching workshop on the first day. However, on the second day instead of going to a single village, the town watching workshop was held for 5 Penghulus and 25 Ketua Kampung. After the workshop we encouraged them to conduct town watching for their own communities. MERCY Malaysia will focus its attention on developing DRR activities with the community in Kg. Rantau Panjang which was badly affected during the 2006 / 07 Johor flood.

Similar workshops with government officials and community members will be conducted in Segamat in June this year.

Puteri Yusof
Senior Officer Programmes