Alarming warnings raised by the country’s iron and steel institute must be given concerned attention in the ongoing disaster risk reduction summit sponsored by the Philippines. In the topics for discussion, the member countries are tackling the root causes of calamities and disasters in the region, chiefly the effects of climate change in environmental destruction.
The holding of the Asia-Pacific Ministerial Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction Summit in the country is reportedly a follow-through of the Senai Framework on Disaster Risk Reduction that was crafted in Senai, Japan sometime in June 2015.
The Government of the Philippines partners with the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR) to host the Asia-Pacific Ministerial Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction (APMCDRR) from 14 to 18 October 2024 at the Philippine International Convention Center in Manila. The APMCDRR is the main platform in Asia and the Pacific to monitor, review and enhance cooperation for the implementation of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030 at the regional level.
The countries that took part in that gathering were required to make their written statements vis-à-vis the protection of the environment against the ill effects of climate change as well as the progress in the implementation of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction of the country or the organization they represent.
The gathering aims to tackle issues and concerns needing urgent action to quell emerging threats that confronts the present generation. Indeed, the gathering is a timely response in the face of real risks that endanger lives and properties. The occurrence of disasters had been frequenter than those predicted to happen in various places and times. Despite our presence whenever and wherever calamities and disasters strike, the heightened magnitude is a real challenge that must be responded head-on if we are to minimize the gravity of its impact on the lives and properties in the affected areas.
But one significant cause of disasters that brings greater danger to peoples and communities in many parts of the region is the unsafe conditions of infrastructure is the widespread cheating on materials, chiefly iron and steel that are used in construction projects. The risk of such substandard materials yielding to dead weights, moving loads and seismic forces. The occurrence of super typhoons and earthquakes are getting frequenter nowadays, calling for more effective and efficient prevention as well as solutions that could save lives and properties.
People merely rely on what they buy considering that there are government agencies tasked to ensure that such construction materials are compliant with standards. The cost of such materials and labor in the construction of structures are so much a burden to the end-users who spend hard-earned money with the thought that they would be in a safe place. It is unfortunate that such perils to life and properties are existing due to the widespread sale of defective materials in the market.
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