PUBLIC AWARENESS ON NATURAL DISASTER STILL LACKING

KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 5 (Bernama)-- Public awareness on natural disasters in the
country is still lacking because the people are not participating in campaigns
held to raise awareness on the matter.

Mercy Malaysia executive council member Nor Azam Abu Saman said the people
were also not interested to widen their knowledge on natural disasters even
though the disaster occurred in their own area.

"Numerous projects and campaigns on disaster awareness are held at various
places in areas exposed to the risk of landslides and soil erosion, but response
from the local residents to these campaigns have been poor, said Nor Azam, who
is also an architect, when met at the launch of the Slopewatch Programme at
Bukit Antarabangsa, Hulu Klang, near here.

He said most of the awareness campaigns held by non-governmental
organisations (NGOs) such as the Coalition Of Bukit Antarabangsa Residence
Associations (COBARA) and Mercy Malaysia also received poor response from Bukit
Antarabangsa residents although the area was exposed to the risk of landslides.

The poor response received from the residents for the campaign, however, did
not deter efforts by COBARA and Mercy Malaysia, which received cooperation from
the Slope Engineering Unit at the Public Works Department to hold early
educational campaigns on natural disasters from time to time.

-- BERNAMA