PHNOM PENH: Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet has urged relevant authorities to treat disaster management as a core priority, calling for a significant strengthening of human and material resources to combat rising climate change risks.
In an official message marking National Disaster Management Day on Tuesday (Oct 13), which coincides with both the Asean Day for Disaster Management and the International Day for Disaster Risk Reduction, Hun Manet warned that the world faces increasingly complex and fast-evolving disaster risks driven by environmental, social, and economic factors.
"Climate change, rapid urbanisation, and environmental degradation pose serious threats to sustainable social and economic development," he said.
Hun Manet said that Cambodia continues to face extreme weather conditions, including rising temperatures during the rainy season, erratic rainfall patterns, strong winds, lightning strikes, riverbank collapses, infectious diseases, and fires -- all of which threaten human lives and community property.
To mitigate these impacts, Hun Manet directed authorities at all levels to prioritise flood and drought management, emphasising the need to upgrade local water infrastructure and closely monitor vulnerable households to build stronger climate resilience across the country.
Furthermore, the prime minister called on citizens to actively strengthen their own household resilience.
He urged families to develop "safety and preparedness plans," which include assembling home emergency kits stocked with clean water, dry food, medicine, a radio, and vital documents.
He advised citizens to inspect and reinforce their homes against wind and lightning, while paying close attention to the safety of children, the elderly, people with disabilities, and pregnant women in times of emergency.
Hun Manet also advocated for increased public investment in housing resilience for vulnerable families, saying that establishing robust social safety nets, providing adequate and safe shelter, and ensuring timely community access to risk information are critical steps to sustaining the nation's economic growth.
According to data from the National Committee for Disaster Management (NCDM), Cambodia has recently been dealing with severe weather impacts.
Last month, heavy rainfall triggered widespread flooding across portions of 10 provinces, directly affecting nearly 60,000 families and forcing approximately 5,000 families to evacuate to designated safe areas.
The rising waters also inundated roughly 52,000 homes and damaged more than 72,000 hectares of rice paddies. - Xinhua
