Key Lessons and Guidelines for Post-Disaster Permanent Housing Provision in Kelantan, Malaysia

In Kelantan, those who have experienced flood almost every year are reluctant to leave their homes due to land ownership matters. It is not guaranteed that they are able to secure their homes from flooding in the future. It was reported that the houses should be built on stilts, which can withstand certain levels of impact during flooding. Unfortunately, until today no specific guidelines have been available to assist homebuilders to rebuild post-disaster homes in Malaysia. In addition, there is also no clear operational procedure to monitor the progress of the construction work. However, at the international level, many guidelines have been prepared that have been found to be suitable for post-disaster housing. This research was an attempt to understand recent national disaster mechanism experiences in the housing sector that best describes the situation in Malaysia and that are in line with international practice. The overall objective is to know how to better support humanitarian responses in flood prone areas through post-disasterresilient house construction in flood prone areas. Eighteen key lessons (from 3 steps) emerged from the review process and data analysis, and these have been developed and presented as guidelines. The findings of this research provide insights for enhancing the coordination of responsibility between and within government bodies on the provision of post-disaster permanent housing.