| James Kon |
HIS Royal Highness Prince Haji Al-Muhtadee Billah ibni His Majesty Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah Mu’izzaddin Waddaulah, the Crown Prince and Senior Minister at the Prime Minister’s Office is to step down as Chairperson of the National Disaster Council.
Minister of Home Affairs Pehin Orang Kaya Seri Kerna Dato Seri Setia (Dr) Haji Awang Abu Bakar bin Haji Apong will take over the post, with other members of the council retaining their positions.
The announcement, made by the minister himself in his opening remarks at the 2nd National Disaster Council meeting at the Brunei-Muara District Office yesterday afternoon, came following His Majesty Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah Mu’izzaddin Waddaulah ibni Al-Marhum Sultan Haji Omar ‘Ali Saifuddien Sa’adul Khairi Waddien, Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan of Brunei Darussalam’s declaration that the National Disaster Council will be chaired only by ministers from now on, as outlined in the Permanent Secretary’s letter, Prime Minister’s Office’s dated May 5, 2018.
The minister together with members of the National Disaster Council conveyed their utmost appreciation and gratitude to His Royal Highness Prince Haji Al-Muhtadee Billah for his all-encompassing leadership, vision and guidance during His Royal Highness’ tenure as chair of the Council.
The minister also thanked all members of the council and government agencies, private sector bodies, volunteers and members of the public for their donations in addressing disasters that affected the country this year.
“With close cooperation and assistance from all the agencies,” the minister highlighted, “we were able to control the disaster situations – such as the floods in early January and forest fires – and provide help to people who were affected and ease their burden”.
The minister recounted that during the previous meeting, His Royal Highness Prince Haji Al-Muhtadee Billah called for the council to continuously work towards enhancing the country’s resilience and community strength in handling risks of disasters as well as man-made incidents such as explosions, oil spills and other crisis events.
He said that the Council will continue to serve as a platform to discuss ways to address disaster events using holistic approaches and manage them effectively as described in the Disaster Management Order 2006.
To uphold the sabda of His Royal Highness Prince Haji Al-Muhtadee Billah as previous chairperson of the council, the minister said, “The National Disaster Management Centre (NDMC) has taken proactive steps to further improve cooperation with the ASEAN Coordinating Centre for Humanitarian Assistance (AHA Centre), especially in raising staff capacities by providing the opportunity for the staff of the centre and other agencies to attend training programmes under the ASEAN Agreement on Disaster Management and Emergency Response (AADMER 2009).
“Brunei also joined the ASEAN Regional Disaster Emergency Exercise and Simulation 2018 (Ardex-2018) in Cilegon, Indonesia as part of these efforts,” the minister added.
The minister revealed that Brunei Darussalam has sent two officials from the NDMC and the Fire and Rescue Department to join the ASEAN Response Assessment team and representatives from other ASEAN member countries to collect information and conduct assessments in areas affected by the earthquake and tsunami in Sulawesi.
“We also went to assess the needs of the populations affected by the disaster, to support the efforts of the national board for disaster management in Palu, Indonesia.
“This was an opportunity for local officers to gain exposure and experience to raise their skills in facing disasters such as earthquakes,” he said.
“The NDMC will be implementing workshops and Table Top Exercise to assess and coordinate our capabilities in tackling disaster situations. I hope integrated trainings such as this will continue to be implemented in 2019.”
The meeting also saw NDMC Director Colonel (Rtd) Pengiran Haji Maiddin bin Pengiran Haji Said presenting a report on natural disasters that took place in Brunei and efforts implemented by the NDMC in 2018 to tackle such events, as well as flood mitigation steps taken by the Ministry of Development in preparation of the rainy season, which is expected to last until early next year.
Commissioner of the Royal Brunei Police Force Dato Paduka Seri Haji Mohd Jammy bin Haji Muhd Shah Al-Islam, Permanent Secretary (Security, Welfare and Law) at the Ministry of Home Affairs and Secretary to the National Disaster Council Mohd Amir Hairil bin Haji Mahmud, permanent secretaries and officials of various ministries were also present.