ANNOUNCEMENT BY THE ASEAN COMMITTEE
ON DISASTER MANAGEMENT (ACDM)
6 September 2006
ASEAN
TO TEST REGIONAL EMERGENCY RESPONSE AND HUMANITARIAN ASSISTANCE
CAPACITIES IN A SIMULATED FLOOD DISASTER IN CAMBODIA
Phnom Penh,
Cambodia. The weeklong heavy rainfall on the main country region,
west of the capital city, has triggered major flashfloods and
worsened the perennial flooding in the provinces along the Mekong
River and around the Tonle Sap Great Lake. Cambodia reports more
than 800,000 people affected and 200,000 people evacuated to safer
areas across the country. Approximately 150 people are reported dead
and 65 persons missing.
The four districts of Kandal Province
remain under floodwaters. The districts of Takhmau and Kein Svay
along Tonle Basac River are most badly hit with 80,000 people
needing immediate relief assistance. The local government has
reported 45 drowning victims and 30 missing persons. The impact on
housing and property, lifelines such as water, power, communication
and transportation, and public infrastructures, is reported as
serious.
Cambodia has appealed for international
humanitarian assistance through the Association of Southeast Asian
Nations (ASEAN) Coordinating Centre for Humanitarian Assistance on
disaster management (AHA Centre). ASEAN Member Countries have
mobilised their disaster response assets including search and rescue
teams to assist Cambodia. Other countries, local and international
organisations have joined in this effort.
Such is the simulated flood disaster
scenario that will occur in Cambodia on 27 September 2006.
This regional event is the ASEAN
Regional Disaster Emergency Response Simulation Exercise, codenamed
ARDEX-06. Emergency response and humanitarian assistance teams fully
equipped with response logistics shall be mobilised by Brunei
Darussalam, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore and
Thailand, arriving in Phnom Penh on 26 September 2006. A major
search and rescue operation, including evacuation of affected
communities, shall be carried out on 27 September 2006. The
disaster response operations will be led by Cambodian authorities
with the support of ASEAN under the guidance of the ASEAN Agreement
on Disaster Management and Emergency Response.
ARDEX-06 is the second of a series of
annual disaster simulation exercise which ASEAN conducts to enhance
the capacities and capabilities of Member Countries in joint
disaster management operations. The first simulation exercise was
held in Selangor, Malaysia last year.
This regional disaster simulation
exercise is among the capacity enhancement activities of the ASEAN
Committee on Disaster Management guided by the ASEAN Agreement on
Disaster and Emergency Response (AADMER) which ASEAN Foreign
Ministers signed on 26 July 2005 in Vientiane, Lao PDR.
The conduct of ARDEX-06 will be
preceded by a contingency planning workshop on 24-25 September
2006. The planning and simulation exercises are an important
multilateral initiative which facilitates learning of lessons and
generates constructive and practical inputs in preparation for the
implementation of the AADMER, in particular the development of the
ASEAN Standby Arrangements and Standard Procedures (SASOP) for
regional disaster management. Moreover, ARDEX-06 directly benefits
the ASEAN Member Countries as national and international mechanisms
for disaster and emergency response, including cooperation and
collaboration in humanitarian actions, are collectively understood,
tested, and enhanced.
ASEAN welcomes participation of other
countries, local, regional and international organisations and the
media in this simulation exercise. Interested parties may obtain
further information from the ASEAN Secretariat (Ms. Adelina Kamal),
tel. (62-21) 7243372, 7262991, or the National Committee for
Disaster Management of the Kingdom of Cambodia (H.E. Peou Samy),
tel. (855-23) 211171.
ASEAN is comprised of Brunei
Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar,
Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Viet Nam.
-------------------------
6 September 2006
ASEAN Secretariat
For media inquiries please contact:
Suchela Phachaiyapoom, Public Affairs Office, the ASEAN Secretariat,
Tel + (62-21) 726 2991 ext. 420, e-mail:
suchela@aseansec.org or Adelina Kamal,
Environment and Disaster Management, Bureau for Resources
Development, ASEAN Secretariat, Tel: + (6221) 7262991 ext. 316,
e-mail:
lina@aseansec.org
SITE OF ARDEX-06 IN CAMBODIA
