SHAH ALAM, 29th JUNE: Selangor has become a pioneer state in Malaysia to establish a cooperation with Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and Japan’s Tohoku University to organize disaster risk reduction programs among the local community.

The program called “Strengthening the Disaster Risk Reduction Capacity to Improve the Safety and Security of Communities by Understanding Disaster Risk” (SeDAR) was held at the Concorde Hotel, here, today.

Exco for Environment, Green Technology, Consumer Affairs and Non-Muslim Affairs, Hee Loy Sian said the program was implemented after the Embassy of Japan to Malaysia, Dr Makio Miyagawa and Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail announced the country would work together in disaster management.

“Selangor was chosen to lead the SeDAR program as the state has developed and has its own disaster management unit.”

“SeDAR aims to educate the community to understand not only how to deal with natural disasters such as flash floods, storms and tsunamis but various other knowledge that is shared in this program,” he said.

He said this at the Press Conference of the SeDAR Program Launching Ceremony, which was also attended by JICA Deputy Chief, Kensuke Fukawa and IRIDeS Director, Tohoku University, Fumiko Imamura.

Loy Sian said the program was conducted by the Selangor Disaster Management Unit (SDMU) together with the International Research Institute of Disaster Science (IRIDeS) and the Malaysian-Japan International Institute of Technology (MJIIT) Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) Kuala Lumpur.

“SDMU will share experiences in disaster monitoring and response while the Disaster Preparedness and Prevention Center (DPPC) at MIJIT brings extensive knowledge and surveys on disaster risk reduction to the community.

“With four years to complete this program, SeDAR is different from other community programs because it focuses on science and evidence based on long-term support,” he said.

Meanwhile, Loy Sian said, communities from the two districts in the state were chosen as pioneers while the leaders in each of the areas would also meet and interact with the Japanese.

“It aims to see how the program is implemented in Japan and how will it be adopted in our country.

“This program is a confirmation of strengthening relations between the two countries in ensuring security in the face of natural disasters,” he said.