Improving the capacity of the alertness disaster group in managing the environment and disaster risk

Abstract

Disaster Alertness Group (DAG) is a community group formed in the disaster-prone areas. DAG establishment is preceded by a briefing knowledge of threats and risks of disaster that may occur in the neighbourhood. By having the knowledge, DAG and the community identify the potential threats of disasters and plan the appropriate activities or actions to reduce the impact of the disasters in the future. Furthermore, the action conducted jointly activities based on the scale priority. All activities have been done in Nagari Salayo (Salayo village), District of Solok, West Sumatra by using Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA) method. As a result, the capacity of DAG has been improved in managing the environment from threat disaster (hazards) in Nagari Salayo. Some actions have been done based on the discussions of the citizens who are members of DAG. There are some alternative plans to be done in order to reduce the disaster risks, such as tree planting, installing signals for evacuation on evacuation tracks, improving the irrigation and drainage canals, and facilitating a briefing knowledge of Bank Sampah or "Waste Bank" to the Disaster Alertness Group.