CCI provides expertise:
Empowering people in post conflict areas vital
Ramani KANGARAARACHCHI
A disaster is an opportunity to build back better but it is very
important to prepare a long term plan using sufficient community
information, Prof. Dilanthi Amaratunga of the School of the Built
Environment, Salford University UK told Daily News Business.
Prof. Amaratunga along with Program Director, Disaster Mitigation and
Reconstruction, Dr. Richard Haigh Salford University arrived in Sri
Lanka early this week to support Sri Lanka through the Chamber of
Construction Industry (CCI) Sri Lanka.
They will support mainly in capacity building in the reconstruction
process. The CCI entered into a partnership with the University of
Salford, UK to provide expertise in the field of Disaster Management and
to provide humanitarian aid to those who have been entrapped for nearly
three decades.
Prof. Amaratunga said that once a disaster has taken place, the first
concern is effective recovery, helping all those affected to recover
from the immediate effects of the disaster. Reconstruction involves
helping to restore the basic infrastructure and services that people
need so that they can return to the pattern of life which they had
enjoyed before the disaster.
Therefore, building houses, creating job opportunities and economic
stability is vital in terms of empowering people in conflict affected
areas.
Capacity building at different levels has been a major issue and the
CCI has been a complementary partner to identify local needs in this
process, she said.
Elaborating on the construction role in disaster mitigation and
recovery, Dr. Haigh said that there is growing recognition that the
construction industry has an important role in helping communities to
anticipate, assess, prevent, prepare, respond and recover from disasters
of all types.
This process is commonly visualized as a two - phase cycle, with post
disaster recovery informing pre-disaster risk reduction and vice versa.
This illustrates the ongoing process by which Governments, businesses
and civil society plan for and reduce the impact of disasters and react
during and immediately after a disaster and take steps to recover.
This concept has the ability to promote the holistic approach as well
as to demonstrate the relationship between disasters and development, he
said.
The University of Salford’s Centre for Disaster Resilience recognized
as the international centre for research in the built and human
environment work with communities around the world to increase their
resilience to the threat posed by natural and human induced hazards.
An international Conference titled “Building Education and Research”
(BEAR) chaired by Prof. Amaratunga and Dr. Haigh was held last year at
the Kandalama Hotel. It was organized by the local partner, the
Universities of Moratuwa and Ruhuna.
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