KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 30 — The government is now using the Defence Geospatial Information Management (DGIM) platform to improve disaster preparedness, especially during the Northeast Monsoon, which is expected to start in November.
Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Sabah, Sarawak Affairs and Special Functions) Datuk Armizan Mohd Ali said the platform developed by the Defence Geospatial Division, Department of Survey and Mapping Malaysia (Jupem) is a special data integration in the Geographic Information System (GIS).
He said the GIS that crosses various ministries and agencies can create a joint common operating picture (JCOP) that operates 24 hours a day at the national disaster control centres for the purpose of disaster management in addition to functioning as an open centralised database.
“Among the agencies that have been integrated into the DGIM platform are DOSM (Department of Statistics), Malaysian Administrative Modernisation and Management Planning Unit, Public Works Department, Malaysian Space Agency, Social Welfare Department and Malaysian Meteorological Department.
“In addition to that are the Department of Town and Country Planning, the Department of Irrigation and Drainage, the Department of Minerals and Geosciences Malaysia and the National Geospatial Centre,” he said during the question-and-answer session at Dewan Rakyat today.
Armizan was replying to the original question by Zahir Hassan (PH-Wangsa Maju) who wanted to know the government’s initiative to create an open centralised database through the DOSM platform to collect all disaster-related data to improve preparedness.
Responding to Zahir’s supplementary question on whether the government plans to involve insurance companies in improving community preparedness in areas with high disaster risk through the implementation of Rahmah insurance, Armizan said it is one of the recommendations that the government is currently examining.
Meanwhile, Armizan said the development of DGIM does not involve any additional allocation to the government because it was developed internally by Jupem before being appointed to be used by the National Disaster Management Agency.
He said this in response to a supplementary question by Tumpat MP Datuk Mumtaz Md Nawi who wanted to know the allocation provided by the government for the management of DGIM.
— Bernama
