Algeria’s strategy for the prevention of natural disasters and major risks… What effectiveness?
By: Amira Ahmed Herzli, Political Science and International Relations Researcher – Baji Mokhtar Annaba University of Algeria
- Arab Democratic Center
Introduction:
In the wake of the recent earthquakes in The States of Mila in August and Skikda on 24 th of this month and the floods of Annaba and several eastern states, which have caused significant material losses affecting housing, educational institutions and infrastructure, the talk is coming today strongly about the effectiveness of the national strategy for prevention and The management of natural disasters, which have been planned by the state since 1985 and reinforced by the Law 20-04 on major hazards and the management of disasters within the framework of sustainable development, according to the national plan for the creation of the territory, the physical variability of Algeria along with geological and climatic factors Make Algeria a “land of danger”, Algeria is concerned with ten of the fourteen risks of natural disasters namely earthquakes and geological hazards, floods, climate hazards, risks of nuclear radiation, forest fires, industrial and energy hazards, risks related to human health, risks related to animal and plant health, air, marine and water pollution and disasters caused by large human gatherings, from which the article is problematic:
How can algeria’s national strategy be assessed in its handling of natural disasters and major risks and how effective it is?
National High Risk Delegate: In an interview with APS recently, The National High Risk Commission said that Algeria has a national strategy for the prevention of natural disasters not only with the intervention of fire agents or civil protection during the disaster, but also by the disaster. Models and previous experiments such as the 1980 Earthquake of Idols, the 1982 Annaba floods in Bab el-Oued, Algiers, the Mela earthquake on August 7, 2020, and the Annaba floods that still exist today.
According to the same spokesman, the state’s interventions in the face of major disasters such as fires, earthquakes and floods over the last 16 years until 2019 cost the public treasury at least 545 billion Algerian dinars, and the risk of flooding alone cost 374 billion Algerian dinars, or 68% of the total losses.
Natural Disaster Prevention Scheme: A scheme drawn up by specialists in natural disasters and major risks to prevent them or at least to come up with the least possible losses, and the plan is divided into four stages, the first stage of tribalization that precedes a disaster and the second stage, which is the phase of prevention and disaster prediction to reduce its risks and repercussions, while the third stage is the intervention phase through several fire and civil protection teams … And others, while the third phase, which is the post-disaster phase, i.e. the stage of assessing losses and taking lessons from them in the event of other future disasters, as well as the plan for prevention on field work i.e. conducting real tests and simulations of various natural disasters, in this regard Algeria conducted a simulation experiment of a flood in September 2020 occurred In Chlef, another simulation of an earthquake disaster in Boumerdes in October this year, the National Commissioner for Major Risks said that these models and simulations should be conducted annually in case of a sudden disaster, as well as to test the readiness of disaster prevention systems and major risks in Algeria.
The legal and legislative framework for the prevention of natural disasters: the law on major hazards and the management of disasters within the framework of sustainable development, which carries number 20-04, which determines how to deal with natural disasters, but the problem lies in how to activate them on the ground and apply them on the ground, which is what happens after, but through this law according to the afar to make us move towards the implementation of what is stated, and to address the shortcomings recorded, and most importantly, the concept of managing major natural hazards and disasters.
Natural Disaster Prevention Rescue Plan: A national plan covering all national territory that identifies major risks and natural disasters in each state and possible, and includes intervention measures following the disaster, and with regard to floods, the Government Council approved on November 18th the national flood reduction strategy, as the strategy identifies areas and states at risk of flooding and confronting Through a series of tribal and dimensional measures that constitute prevention, forecasting, evaluation and forecasting of future disasters, the National Grand Risk Commission has developed a digital ground connected to all states and has an official in each state, where it includes all disaster-related data within the territory of each state and especially the losses resulting from it,
Conclusion:
The awareness aspect of the risks of natural disasters through various media channels and social media remains an effective means of preventing them and ensuring the success of the national strategy for the prevention of natural disasters, as well as requiring the state to develop practical and field strategies with multi-sector work programs and involve citizens and various civil society activities and inform them of the major risks and disasters to which the country is exposed, with the participation of specialized scientists to share knowledge and contribute to the application of the work of monitoring pathways and avoid the shortcomings recorded by the process of intervention in the reduction of natural disasters and the work remains ongoing. Among all the actors to develop a more sophisticated preventive strategy that takes into account all the new variables.
