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Recently, national level disaster management legis- that connects local communities and state/division district
lation systems have been established in Myanmar, level in disaster management. To promote township disas-
and preparation of disaster management plans at the ter management plans, the Guideline on township disaster
township level has also been encouraged. This study management plan has been issued by the Relief and Reset-
aims to explain these disaster management plans in tlement and General Administration Department and the
Myanmar through content analysis and comparison Asian Disaster Preparedness Center. Within this context,
with the Japanese Municipality Disaster Management the production of disaster management plans at the town-
Plan. The classification of activities by 45 categories ship level is currently in progress.
revealed the prioritized activities in the disaster man- On the other hand, the preparation of municipal disas-
agement plan for each township. Furthermore, the ter management plans started in the 1960s in Japan. At
comparison identified differences between the disas- present, all 1,742 municipalities there have created a dis-
ter management plans of the two countries, of which aster management plan, and the almost half of the mu-
some are explained by the difference in situations in nicipalities have revised their disaster management plan
Myanmar and Japan, but the others indicate activities in 2015. This indicates that municipality disaster man-
missed in the township disaster management plans in agement plans continue to improve with the added expe-
Myanmar. rience of natural disasters. As a result, we could say that
the Japanese municipality disaster management plans are
Keywords: Myanmar, disaster management, disas- relatively mature.
ter management plan, disaster management law, content This study aims to explain the situation, and to re-
analysis veal the issues of the disaster management plan in Myan-
mar. First, the outline of the legislation systems related to
disaster management in Myanmar and Japan will be ex-
1. Introduction plained in order to offer the big picture of the whole sys-
tem. Second, the content analysis of the Standing Order
Located in the South Asia, Myanmar is a country with has been carried out with the purpose of understanding the
a population of 56 million. After its transition from a mil- national level disaster management plan. Third, the disas-
itary government to a democratic one in 2011, this coun- ter management plan at the township level has been ana-
try attracts a sizable amount of investments from other lyzed with the aim of comprehending field level activities
countries, which will consequently lead to large-scale de- through the content analysis and a comparison with the
velopment. However, Myanmar is vulnerable to natural Municipality Disaster Management Plan in Japan, which
disasters, as the damage of a cyclone Nargis in 2008, has been developed through many experiences of natural
with 84,537 deaths and 53,836 missing, has shown [1]. disasters, in order to clarify problems in Myanmar’s dis-
Furthermore, its vulnerability can be intensified with the aster management plan.
coming developments. In order to accomplish economic
growth from development projects, disaster management
is one of the indispensable issues to Myanmar. 2. Legislation Systems Related to Disaster
Recently, national level disaster management legisla- Management in Myanmar and Japan
tion systems, such as the National Disaster Management
Law and the Disaster Management Rules have been im- 2.1. Disaster Management Systems in Myanmar
plemented in Myanmar. In addition, preparation of dis-
aster management plans at township level is also encour- The Ministry of Welfare, Relief and Resettlement
aged. The township is recognized as an important actor which is the principal ministry in disaster management in
Myanmar, offers some assistance for implementation in Rules details the role and responsibilities of the Min-
disaster risk reduction, and arranges coordination among istry of Social Welfare, Relief and Resettlement, and also
other ministries. The National Natural Disaster Man- prescribes that local bodies, from the region or state to
agement Central Committee (NDMC), chaired by a Vice ward or village tract, should prepare disaster manage-
President, is an interministerial body, which is formed in ment plans. To assist township governments in devel-
order to implement the provisions of the Disaster Man- oping township-level disaster management plans, the Re-
agement Law. lief and Resettlement and General Administration De-
When a major natural disaster occurs and the President partment and the Asian Disaster Preparedness Center
declares a state of disaster for an affected area, the disas- (ADPC), which is a regional non-profit organization that
ter is considered to be controlled at the national level. In works for the resilience of people and institutions to dis-
that case, the ministries communicate closely with each asters in Asia and the Pacific, has formed the Guideline
other through this committee and 12 working committees, on Township Disaster Management Plan [5]. They con-
which are formed under the NDMC. Myanmar’s min- tain the following three objectives; (1) to assist the town-
istries have their branch offices at local levels, such as the ship authorities to prepare for township disaster, (2) to as-
state or township level, and they are a part of the local au- sist in ensuring uniformity in township disaster prepared-
thority. As a result, the decision made by the committees ness plans across townships by standardization of disaster
is transmitted to the branch offices from the central office management terminologies, and (3) to provide a standard
of each ministry if necessary. It appears that this system template for township disaster management plans.
of a chain of communication reflects the centralized char- The guideline consists of four sections; an introduction,
acteristics of the previous military government. approach for preparation of the township disaster manage-
ment plan (TDMP), outline of the TDMP, and explanatory
notes.
2.2. Outline of Disaster Management Law and According to the description in the Natural Disaster
Plans in Myanmar Management Law, the targeted disasters in the Myanmar’s
In Myanmar, the National Disaster Management Law law and rules related to disaster management includes nat-
(2013) [2], the Disaster Management Rules (2015) [3], ural disasters such as floods and earthquakes, and man-
and the Standing Order on Natural Disaster Management made disasters such as industrial or chemical accidents,
(2009) [4] are the primary law or rules for the natural dis- which is also true of the Japanese Disaster Countermea-
aster management at the national level. sures Basic Act.
The Standing Order, finalized in 2009 and updated in
2011, serves as the Disaster Preparedness Plan and the
2.3. Outline of Disaster Management Law and
Emergency Response Plan in Myanmar after its transi-
tion to a democratic government. The Standing Order Plans in Japan
identifies duties and responsibilities to be executed at the In Japan, the principle law on disaster management is
national level and state/division level. The duties to be the Disaster Countermeasures Basic Act [6] which was
carried out are classified by disaster phases and disaster enacted in 1961 and has been constantly reviewed and
types. Though it has to be noted that the Standing Or- amended since its enactment. The Act clarifies financial
der needs to be updated, based on the changing context measures to be taken in case of natural disasters and the
and in accordance with the Disaster Management Law and responsibilities of actors, including the national, prefec-
Rules, and the Sendai Framework, the Standing Order is tural, and municipal governments as well as designated
still a key document giving a detailed description of the public institutions. Like the Disaster Management Rules
roles and responsibilities for national level players in dis- in Myanmar, the Disaster Countermeasures Basic Act pre-
aster management. scribes the establishment of disaster management plans at
The National Disaster Management Law, which was all levels of government.
enacted in 2013, is the principle national law about dis- Within this context, Japan has a disaster management
aster management in Myanmar. This law specifies the planning system which is composed of four types of
roles and responsibilities of four implementation bodies: plans: (1) the Basic Disaster Management Plan, (2) the
(1) the NDMC; (2) the national disaster management bod- Disaster Management Operation Plan, (3) the Local Dis-
ies of the region or state; (3) the President; and (4) the de- aster Management Plan, and (4) the Community Disaster
partment, organization, or person that has been assigned Management Plan. The Basic Disaster Management Plan
responsibility under this law, in the different phases of a is the highest level plan in the disaster management plan-
disaster. These phases include: (1) preparatory measures, ning system in Japan, prepared by the Central Disaster
(2) prevention measures, (3) the disaster stage, and (4) Management Council, which is established in the cabi-
rehabilitation and reconstruction. This law also includes net office based on the Disaster Countermeasures Basic
a description regarding the establishment of the Natural Act. It forms the foundation for the Disaster Management
Disaster Management Fund. Operation Plan and the Local Disaster Management Plan.
The Disaster Management Rules is subsequent to the The Plan also clarifies responsibilities of related bodies:
Disaster Management Law which the Ministry of Social the national and local governments, and public corpora-
Welfare, Relief, and Resettlement issued in 2015. The tions and other entities. The Disaster Management Op-
shows that the four phases are evenly mentioned in the 4. Comparison Between Township Disaster
Standing Order. However, with consideration of the Management Plans in Myanmar and a Mu-
length of each phase, there are more items per unit of time nicipal Disaster Management Plan in Japan
in the Alert and Warning Stage and the During Natural
Disasters, compared to the other phases. In the Sendai To understand differences in the local level disaster
Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030, “In- management plans in both countries, an analysis of plan
vesting in disaster risk governance to manage disaster contents and a comparison were conducted.
risk” and “Enhancing disaster preparedness for effective
response” are listed in the four priorities for action. Given
this, more items might need to be described for the pre- 4.1. Targets of Analysis
paredness phase in the Standing Order.
To investigate the Township Disaster Management plan
Figure 2 shows the result of classification by the dis-
in Myanmar, the following documents were used in the
aster phases and actors. The Ministry of Welfare, Re-
analysis: the Guideline on Township Disaster Manage-
lief and Resettlement, which plays a primary role in the
ment Plan, the Hlaingbwe Township Disaster Manage-
Disaster Management at the national level, has the great-
ment Plan [7], and the Kyaikmaraw Township Disaster
est number of duties and responsibilities. This ministry
Management Plan [8]. Although the Guideline on Town-
plays a major role in all phases, such as, “Make arrange-
ship Disaster Management Plan is a guideline to support
ments to have helicopters, transport aircraft, ships for in-
townships in developing a disaster management plan, the
land water transport and motor vehicles at the ready for
duties and responsibilities of the Twantay Township Dis-
impact surveillance and rescue operations” in the Alert
aster Preparedness Committee and the subcommittees in
and Warning stage, or, “Form teams and implement roads,
Pyapon Township are given as examples. One of the ob-
bridges and infrastructure restoration depending on prior-
jectives of the publication of the guideline was to provide
ity to prevent disruptions in transportation” in the Relief
a standard template for a township disaster management
and Rehabilitation stage. The Ministry of Education is
plan. Thus, the duties and the responsibilities of the com-
also assigned a large number of items, especially in Nor-
mittees of Twantay and Pyapon can be considered as stan-
mal Times. For example, “Include disaster-related curric-
dard examples of township disaster management plans in
ula at basic education schools, universities and degree col-
Myanmar. Specifically, the Hlaingbwe Township Disaster
leges as required” and, “Carry out repair, maintenance and
Management Plan and the Kyaikmaraw Township Disas-
construction of schools for in areas vulnerable to natural
ter Management Plan are the only two disaster manage-
disasters including storms, ensuring disaster resistance”
ment plans which are available in English. Furthermore,
are the duties of Ministry of Education in Normal Times.
in Myanmar, the production of township disaster man-
agement plans is still in progress, so we could consider
these examples as precedents, which would be followed was selected as the Japanese case for this analysis for the
by other townships in Myanmar. following reasons. First, the population of Tsu-shi and its
In all documents, the duties and responsibilities are area size are similar to Twantay, one of the target town-
itemized, grouped by committees. To sum up, the analysis ships of Myanmar, and given these similarities in area
targets the duties and responsibilities of following: (1) the size and population, it is likely that the volume and the
Twantay Disaster Preparedness Committee (44 items), (2) contents of disaster management activities for the two ar-
the Pyapon Township subcommittees (52 items), (3) the eas are also similar. Second, as noted above, Tsu-shi has
Hlaingbwe Township Disaster Preparedness Committee a three-volume disaster management plan, and therefore
and subcommittees (86 items), and (4) the Kyaikmaraw its content relatively rich in comparison to other Japanese
Township Disaster Preparedness Committee and subcom- municipality disaster management plans. Also, as the Ta-
mittees (205 items). ble 1 shows, this disaster management plan covers most
For analysis of Japanese municipal disaster manage- of the activity categories. Thus, we could say that the
ment plans, the Tsu-shi City Municipal Disaster Manage- Tsu-shi Municipality Disaster Management Plan is appro-
ment Plan [9] was adopted. Tsu-shi is located in Mie pre- priate as a plan to compare.
fecture, and its population is the second largest in the pre- In the analysis, the volumes for earthquake and flood
fecture. Tsu-shi has a three-volume disaster management are targeted, because tsunami is not a disaster type which
plan. Each volume corresponds to a disaster type; earth- is assumed in all municipalities or townships. Each vol-
quake, flood, and tsunami. This disaster management plan ume is composed of three sub-plans: a Disaster Prepared-
Name:
Rena Kikuchi Name:
Khin Than Yu
Affiliation:
Master Student, Department of Civil Engineer-
Affiliation:
ing, Faculty of Engineering, the University of
Pro-Rector, Yangon Technological University
Tokyo
Address:
Insein 11011, Yangon, Yangon Region, Myanmar
Brief Career:
1991- 2001 Assistant Professor, Department of Civil Engineering , Yangon
Address: Technological University
4-6-1 Komaba, Meguro-ku, Tokyo, Japan 2001-2002 Deputy Director, Department of Technical Promotion and
Brief Career: Coordination, Ministry of Science and Technology
2015- Graduate Student, the University of Tokyo 2005 Professor (Acting Rector), Myanmar Aerospace Engineering
University (MAEU)
Name:
Muneyoshi Numada
Affiliation: Name:
Lecturer, International Center for Urban Safety Kimiro Meguro
Engineering, Institute of Industrial Science, the
University of Tokyo Affiliation:
Professor, Institute of Industrial Science, The
University of Tokyo
Address:
4-6-1 Komaba, Meguro-ku, Tokyo, Japan
Brief Career:
2009- Associate Researcher, the University of Tokyo Address:
2014- Lecturer, the University of Tokyo 4-6-1-Be604, Komaba, Meguro-ku, Tokyo 153-8505, Japan
Brief Career:
1991 Research Associate, Institute of Industrial Science, The University of
Tokyo
1995 Associate Professor, Institute of Industrial Science, The University of
Name: Tokyo
May Myat Mon 1995 Associate Professor, Institute of Industrial Science, The University of
Tokyo
2007 Director of International Center for Urban Safety (ICUS), Institute of
Affiliation:
Industrial Science, The University of Tokyo
Master Student, Yangon Technological University
2008 Visiting Professor of The Open University of Japan
Address: 2010 Professor, Graduate School of Interdisciplinary Information Studies,
Insein 11101, Yangon, Yangon Region, Myanmar The University of Tokyo
2015 The director of the Japan Association for Earthquake Engineering
2016 Special Advisor of Cabinet Office, Government of Japan
Selected Publications:
Name: • M. Kohiyama, A. S. Kiremidjian, K. Meguro, and M. Ohara, “Incentives
Tun Naing and Disincentives Analysis for Improving Policy for Seismic Risk
Management of Homeowners in Japan,” Natural Hazards Review, ASCE,
Affiliation: Vol.9, No.4, pp. 170-178, 2008.
Professor, Yangon Technological University • Matsuoka and Nojima, “Building Damage Estimation by Integration of
Seismic Intensity Information and Satellite L-band SAR Imagery,” Remote
Sensing, MDPI, Vol.2, No.9, pp. 2111-2126, 2010.
• K. Meguro and H. Tagel-Din, “Applied Element Simulation of RC
Structure under Cyclic Loading,” Journal of Structural Engineering,
ASCE, Vol.127, No.11, pp. 1295-1305, 2001.
Address: Academic Societies & Scientific Organizations:
Insein 11011, Yangon, Yangon Region, Myanmar • Japan Society of Civil Engineers (JSCE)
Brief Career: • Institute of Social Safety Science (ISSS)
1995 B.Sc (Geology), Mandalay University • Japan Association for Earthquake Engineering (JAEE)
1998 D.A.G (Engineering Geology), Post-graduate Diploma in Applied • International Association for Earthquake Engineering (IAEE)
Geology, Yangon University • World Seismic Safety Initiative (WSSI)
2002 M.Sc (Engineering Geology), Yangon University • Japan Society for Natural Disaster Science
2003 M.Res (Geotechnical Engineering), Yangon University • Japan Society for Active Fault Studies (JSAF)
2010 Ph.D (Geotechnical Earthquake Engineering), Universitas Gadjah
Mada (UGM), Yogyakarta, Indonesia, and Kyoto University, Japan
2013 Post-Doctoral Fellowship (Geotechnical Earthquake Engineering),
Kyoto University, Japan
2015 Short-term Researcher (Geotechnical Earthquake Engineering),
Kyoto University, Japan