Building Malaysia’s First Tsunami-Ready Community in Kudat, Sabah

Tsunami Ready Recognition Programme (TRRP) was introduced as a performance-based approach to strengthen tsunami preparedness among coastal communities. While communities across 31 countries have been recognised as “Tsunami Ready” (TR) globally, coastal communities in Malaysia have yet to be certified even though past experience and studies provided irrefutable evidence that coastal cities and towns in the country are exposed to tsunami risks. This paper reports on a two-phase project implemented in Kudat district in northern Sabah, Borneo Malaysia which operationalised the UNESCO/IOC’s guidelines on TRRP as a roadmap to develop the first candidate for a TR community in Malaysia. A table-top exercise conducted with local stakeholders provided input necessary to improve the local tsunami emergency response plan. Post-program surveys also showed a significant increase in the understanding of tsunami risks and response plans, better awareness on safe tsunami evacuation, higher confidence in responding to tsunami warnings, and greater willingness to participate in future risk reduction programs. Additionally, this paper maps Kudat communities’ progress in each TR indicator, identifies persistent gaps for effective tsunami risk reduction locally, as well as recommendations to cultivate a culture of tsunami readiness at all levels and move Malaysian coastal communities towards the UNESCO/IOC certification.