KUALA LUMPUR Aug 1 — Speed, efficiency and good coordination are vital elements when responding to disasters, said Royal Malaysian Navy chief, Admiral Datuk Mohd Reza Mohd Sany.
In this regard, he said, plans had to be regularly tried and tested while gaps were addressed and continuously minimised.
“Living in a region that is highly prone to disasters such as earthquakes, tsunamis, typhoons and floods, one cannot underscore the importance for us to come together and focus our regional efforts on preparing ourselves to respond and minimise the impact of disasters on our people and economy.”
He said this when closing the Asean Defence Ministers’ Meeting-Plus Expert Working Group on Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief Exercise 2019 (ADMM-Plus EWG on HADR Ex 2019), here, today.
Noting that disasters could strike with little or no warning, he said that while they were unpredictable, the harm they could cause could be mitigated or partly prevented.
In his speech, Mohd Reza also alluded to the adoption of the Asean Military Readiness Group on HADR (AMRG on HADR) at the Ninth ADMM that took place here in 2015.
He said it reflected the enthusiasm of Malaysia and the United States as the co-chairman in the 2017-2020 cycle to operationalise the AMRG on HADR by 2020.
“The AMRG on HADR is a manifestation of how the ADMM-Plus EWG on HADR has pursued to strengthen military to military coordination while gradually progressing to bridge civilian to military coordination, generally aimed at closing existing coordination and resource gaps,” he said.
The three-day exercise from Tuesday involved about 100 participants representing military agencies, as well as medical and humanitarian organisations from the 10-member Asean as well as representatives from 18 other countries such as the US, India and Australia. — Bernama
