Public must be ´ready against disasters´

Source: China Daily | 05-11-2009 10:06

The government needs to take stronger steps to make the public more prepared against natural disasters and improve early warning systems, experts said Sunday, two days before the first anniversary of the Sichuan earthquake.

The government will release its first white paper on disaster prevention and reduction on May 12, declared the country's first national disaster prevention day.

The Sichuan quake left nearly 90,000 people dead or missing, and caused an economic loss of between 700 billion yuan ($102.6 billion) and 978.6 billion yuan.

Provincial and regional governments have already begun campaigns to educate people on disaster prevention and emergency rescue. The Sichuan provincial government is distributing booklets and leaflets on construction guidelines, evacuation plans, landslide prevention and control of pests after natural disasters.

"The quake showed how ill prepared we were for potential hazards," said Wang Qizhang, deputy director of Sichuan government's secretariat. "Many people didn't know how to react or apply first aid".

"We must learn a lesson from this and enhance public awareness and people's self-protection ability," he said.

Disaster experts and officials called for setting up a nationwide information network to encourage the public to monitor and report potential disasters to local governments.