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Symposium on Disaster Risk Management
Strong public and private sector fraternity is essential to steer the much-needed disaster risk management along with a long-term master plan to safeguard our industries, said Barrister Md. Sameer Sattar, President of Dhaka Chamber of Commerce & Industry (DCCI) at a symposium on “private sector’s participation in disaster risk management: towards Smart Bangladesh” jointly organized by DCCI and Strengthening Urban Public-Private Programming for Earthquake Resilience (SUPER) Project Consortium held on June 24, 2023 at Radisson Hotel, Dhaka. SUPER project is a consortium initiative implemented by DCCI, ActionAid Bangladesh, United Purpose and World Vision supported by European Union Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid. Barrister Sheikh Fazle Noor Taposh, Mayor, DSCC and Md. Atiqul Islam, Mayor, DNCC joined virtually as special guests. Executive Chairman, BIDA Lokman Hossain Miah, FBCCI President, Md. Jashim Uddin and DG, Department of Disaster Management Mijanur Rahman were also present as guest of honour. DCCI President Barrister Md. Sameer Sattar chaired the symposium.
Strong public and private sector fraternity is essential to steer the much-needed disaster risk management along with a long-term master plan to safeguard our industries, said Barrister Md. Sameer Sattar, President of Dhaka Chamber of Commerce & Industry (DCCI) at a symposium on “private sector’s participation in disaster risk management: towards Smart Bangladesh” jointly organized by DCCI and Strengthening Urban Public-Private Programming for Earthquake Resilience (SUPER) Project Consortium held on June 24, 2023 at Radisson Hotel, Dhaka. SUPER project is a consortium initiative implemented by DCCI, ActionAid Bangladesh, United Purpose and World Vision supported by European Union Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid. Barrister Sheikh Fazle Noor Taposh, Mayor, DSCC and Md. Atiqul Islam, Mayor, DNCC joined virtually as special guests. Executive Chairman, BIDA Lokman Hossain Miah, FBCCI President, Md. Jashim Uddin and DG, Department of Disaster Management Mijanur Rahman were also present as guest of honour. DCCI President Barrister Md. Sameer Sattar chaired the symposium.
Barrister Sheikh Fazle Noor Taposh, Mayor, Dhaka South City Corporation said that disaster risk management strategy should be implemented through public-private partnership mode to make it more sustainable. He also suggested to make private sector emergency operation centre (PEOC) effective. He also informed that there are 75 words under DSCC and each has about 400 volunteers to work. DSCC has already allocated increased budget for trainings and fire drills, he informed. To make smart Bangladesh we all need to work hand in hand, he added.
Md. Atiqul Islam, Mayor, Dhaka North City Corporation said that in offices, homes and markets fire drills should be mandatory to raise awareness. Moreover, we do not have underearth utility service mapping and due to lack of proper GIS mapping sometimes it becomes risky to do infrastructure related work especially in the roads. He also said that if the canals can be re-gained these will be a good source of water if any fire incident happens. He urged the owner of commercial towers to arrange frequent fire drills and ensure enough space in the tower. Later he said that government alone can not implement disaster risk management.
Executive Chairman of BIDA Lokman Hossain Miah urged all to abide by the building code. He said “where there is life, there is risk”, therefore, we have to have a masterplan for being a disaster resilient country. He termed Dhaka as the most vulnerable city in Bangladesh. But not only Dhaka, we have bring the whole country under a masterplan. He also termed technology as a strong tool to fight against disaster as well as he stressed on easy financing mechanism to face disasters.
Md. Jashim Uddin, President, FBCCI said that in terms of businesses, we are in a competitive world. Any disaster may harm our competitiveness in the international market, he said. He said we can not allow our industries and employees or workers to be endangered by any disaster. We have to identify the risky factories and industries and make them ready for facing disasters. He also said that the capacity of our fire service and civil defence should be strengthened more. There is no alternative of maintaining compliance in our industries. In that case private sector has a big role to play along with the public sector.
Mizanur Rahman, Director General, Department of Disaster Management said that the disaster risk management should be inclusive. Since Bangladesh is situated in a disaster prone zone, therefore we have to be ready with adequate equipment. Technology is can play a pivotal role in facing disaster risks, he added. He urged the young generation to be engaged in disaster risk management system.
Later a website of private sector emergency operation centre has been launched.
DCCI senior vice president SM Golam Faruk Alamgir (Arman) offered vote of thanks.
Two parallel sessions titled “disaster risk management financing strategy” and “technology in DRM towards smart Bangladesh” held under the symposium where related stakeholder sector leaders also spoke.
Published on: 2023-06-25