IMPACT OF DISASTER TO PRIVATE CONSTRUCTION OGRANISATIONS IN MALAYSIA

Abstract

Disaster events tend to affect construction organisations in the entire community. In the recent years, with the intensity and frequency of disaster occurrences in Malaysia, the impact of disaster could destruct construction organisational business, assets and properties. For instance, flood occurrence in 2011, has affected the double track construction project in Malaysia resulting time overrun for a period of 18 months and financial loss of ringgit Malaysia 150 million to private construction organisations. Based on the 11th Malaysian Plan (Strategy Paper 11: Climate Resilient Development), construction organisations are recommended to identify the disaster impacts to prepare for disaster occurrences. Hence, the objective are: to investigate vulnerable factors of disaster (pre-event) and to distinguish the key areas of disaster impacts (post-event) for private construction organisations in Malaysia. The initial research starts with literature review from various scholars on key areas of disaster impact and disaster impact model. The next stage is conducting preliminary data survey among seven private construction organisations involved in disasters. The findings revealed that in Malaysia, social and environmental vulnerabilities are prominent elements in the pre-event phase of disaster impact. Subsequently, the Malaysian private construction organisations selected four (4) key areas of disaster impact to be the utmost critical at the post-event phase. These are people: reputation; information and communication; and finance. The outcomes of the research would provide valuable insight to the private construction organisations in Malaysia in reducing impacts to any kind of disaster and to sustain the business efficacy in the long run.