Decade-long disaster prevention plan released by the government

Members of the Macao Customs Service and the Fire Services Bureau conduct search and rescue work during the “Crystal Fish” typhoon drill held in April last year

A comprehensive disaster prevention and mitigation plan was officially published by the government yesterday. Covering the next 10 years, the Decennial Disaster Plan, known in full as the “Macau Disaster Prevention and Reduction Plan (2019-2028),” outlines a series of measures in order to raise the city’s resilience in the face of disasters and enhance its ability to recover from them.

The document is the result of more than a year of gathering opinions from various aspects of society, as well as considerable discussion and study, all under the guidance of a group of experts from the National Disaster Reduction Commission and the Macau SAR government.

The Decennial Disaster Plan presents definitions and analysis of classified high-risk public safety events, as well as assessments of the city’s current responsiveness to such events. Accordingly, it identifies areas that need to be improved with priority and details key tasks and programs to increase the city’s emergency response capacity.

The Plan lists nine priority areas for the enhancement of prevention and mitigation work: the development of disaster prevention infrastructure; the creation of response management systems; the establishment of risk management, monitoring and early warning systems; the training of emergency rescue teams and equipment; the establishment of an emergency response command overseeing combined operations in the city; the provision of emergency response materials; the conduct of joint social collaboration in disaster response; the education of the public of the risks resulting from possible incidents; and the development of joint emergency operations between Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macau.

From these nine areas, the Plan further specifies 37 prospective and compulsory indicators to broadly reflect efficiency in terms of increased disaster prevention and reduction capacity.

The development of the Decennial Disaster Plan was prompted by the devastation caused by supertyphoon Hato in August 2017 and typhoon Mangkhut one year later, and the revelation of how unprepared the city and its authorities were for these natural disasters.

Hato, the most powerful storm to affect Macau in half a century, killed 10 people and caused over 12.5 billion patacas in economic loss, according to official estimates provided by the local government.

According to earlier comments from the Secretary for Security, Wong Sio Chak, the government has set up near- and long-term plans to combat typhoons and handle similar incidents. Last year, the Secretary said he was confident Macau could minimize deaths and injuries in the event of another supertyphoon.

According to the Decennial Disaster Plan, by 2023, Macau will have already optimized its unexpected event response management system, which will reduce the impact of major disasters, particularly in regards to loss of human life, injury to heritage, and economic damage.

By 2028, the Plan’s completion year, the major disaster prevention and mitigation infrastructure and programs will be nearing completion. This, according the government, will help to realize Macau as a city that can withstand the devastation brought by such disasters.

In a statement released by the government yesterday, the authorities invited the public to engage in a consultation process about the Decennial Disaster Plan, which can be accessed on the Policy Development and Regional Development Bureau website. DB