PNG cities urged to prepare for disasters

CITIES in the country need to have proper planning in order to be prepared for natural and man-made disasters.
This was mentioned by the NCD Governor Powes Parkop during the International Disaster Reduction Day, which was celebrated at the Sir John Guise stadium yesterday.
International Disaster Reduction Day falls on every second Wednesday of  October.
The event, which was themed this year as “Making cities resilient: My city is getting ready”, is celebrated by all United Nations member countries.
Parkop said due to climate change, the weather would be unpredictable in the years to come and the government should start establishing proper planning to manage and contain disaster related impacts.
He also called for building board and the physical planning board to ensure buildings in the city were erected on proper standards to withstand impacts from earthquake and other catastrophic disasters.
He said that some high-rise buildings in the city were not built to standard in order to cut costs and it was time to ensure that this was not repeated in buildings that were erected currently.
Parkop also said the capital city was expanding without proper planning and the increase in the population needed proper management and zoning for adequate resource distribution.
Currently, he said it took a long while for the Fire Brigade in NCD to reach fire sites and this area needed improvement in the form of establishing more fire brigade posts in the city.
With settlements sprouting in the city, the governor stressed that proper planning was being hindered, adding that houses on hillsides and floodplains were at risk if a natural disaster such as landslides or flooding occurred.