Most natural disasters are inevitable or, at least, not under the control of any authority. The best a country can do is to be prepared to manage natural catastrophes as and when they occur so that life can return to normal as soon as possible.
National preparedness is a shared responsibility where everyone has a role to play to ensure that the country can address its greatest risks effectively. We live in a country with a history of few, if any, natural calamities connected with major climate or geological phenomena, like hurricanes or earthquakes, even if the occurrence of such things happening cannot be excluded in the future.
But we are an island in the middle of the Mediterranean, right in the centre of very busy navigation routes. We are also very near North Africa that, for a long time, has been troubled with political unrest and the threat of terrorism. A major oil spill in the Mediterranean could badly affect the tourism industry as would a terrorist attack, as has happened in other Mediterranean countries.
There are other modern day disasters that could conceivably disrupt our lives in a major way. Malta is one of the smallest and most densely populated islands. A major aircraft accident could have dire consequences on the whole country in a very short space of time. Our widespread dependence on computers also exposes us to serious risks in case of major cyber-attacks by vandals or criminals.
Luckily, so far, none of these apocalyptic scenarios has become a reality. But this should not lull us into a false sense of security. We need to have a well thought-out disaster recovery framework that will help us to deal with a major disaster that may hit us at any time.
According to a European Commission survey carried out in March, two-thirds of the Maltese people fear the country is not ready to deal with a natural disaster. The Maltese place stronger reliance on the ability of the European Union to take measures if the island were to be struck by an unforeseeable disaster. This may be wishful thinking. It is a country’s responsibility to ensure that civil protection arrangements are what they should be, including in terms of personnel, equipment, training and coordination.
A critical infrastructure protection unit is in place, which has also conducted a risk assessment exercise, though the findings remain under wraps for “security reasons”. The people are expected to adhere to the maxim that when ignorance is bliss it is foolish to be wise. Surely, this protection unit should, at least, give some generic details on the recovery support function in the case of a natural disaster.
A good recovery support framework would need to include plans for the following functions: capacity building, an economic recovery plan, health and social services recovery, housing recovery, infrastructure systems recovery and natural and cultural resources recovery.
When such recovery capabilities are in place people put their mind at rest that the ability to be protected in national emergencies exists. This framework necessitates substantial pre-disaster planning involving different organisations including the army, the police, the health authorities and civil organisations.
The European Commission study should serve to further raise public awareness of the risks we face in terms of natural disasters.