This page has only limited features, please log in for full access.

Unclaimed
A.M. Aslam Saja
Faculty of Engineering, University Park, South Eastern University of Sri Lanka, Oluvil 32360, Sri Lanka

Honors and Awards

The user has no records in this section


Career Timeline

The user has no records in this section.


Short Biography

The user biography is not available.
Following
Followers
Co Authors
The list of users this user is following is empty.
Following: 0 users

Feed

Journal article
Published: 20 April 2021 in Sustainability
Reads 0
Downloads 0

Municipal solid waste management (MSWM) has become a major challenge in Sri Lanka for post-conflict development activities. Many urban areas are facing severe problems in managing 10 to 50 metric tons of waste per day. However, limited research has been carried out to identify the key issues and policy gaps in MSWM. This research studies the existing complexities of MSWM processes, practices, and emerging challenges in three highly congested urban areas in the south-eastern coast of Sri Lanka. A mixed method strategy using field observations, semi-structured interviews and secondary data sources was employed for the data collection. The study revealed that, although the MSWM systems in the urban areas include all necessary elements, their effectiveness and efficiency are not satisfactory due to poor or non-segregation of waste at the source of generation; lack of resources; absence of regulation to reduce waste generation and control polluters; absence of regular collection schedule; and lack of technical know-how and initiatives. The recommendations drawn from the study include feasible solutions and immediate measures required to improve the MSWM before the related environmental and public health problems become a social catastrophe. The recommendations will also greatly contribute in the achievement of developing sustainable cities.

ACS Style

Abdul Saja; Abdul Zimar; Sainulabdeen Junaideen. Municipal Solid Waste Management Practices and Challenges in the Southeastern Coastal Cities of Sri Lanka. Sustainability 2021, 13, 4556 .

AMA Style

Abdul Saja, Abdul Zimar, Sainulabdeen Junaideen. Municipal Solid Waste Management Practices and Challenges in the Southeastern Coastal Cities of Sri Lanka. Sustainability. 2021; 13 (8):4556.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Abdul Saja; Abdul Zimar; Sainulabdeen Junaideen. 2021. "Municipal Solid Waste Management Practices and Challenges in the Southeastern Coastal Cities of Sri Lanka." Sustainability 13, no. 8: 4556.

Chapter
Published: 06 February 2021 in Disaster Risk Reduction
Reads 0
Downloads 0

The emphasis on disaster management sector had been on standalone disaster risk reduction or response preparedness plans for the past decades. There was a lack of an integrated approach to disaster risk reduction and development interventions at all levels. In the context of disaster-development nexus, two standalone approaches had evolved in the past: Community-Based Disaster Risk Management (CBDRM) without proper integration mechanisms within development projects and community development through Village Development Plans (VDP) without due consideration of risk reduction aspects. Both isolated approaches have reduced not only the aid effectiveness, but proven to be not enhancing the resilience of communities. In this context, this chapter discusses a new risk-sensitive approach to development planning piloted by DIPECHO (Disaster Preparedness project of European Commission Humanitarian Office) partners in Sri Lanka by drawing from lessons from past experiences in implementing standalone CBDRM projects and community development projects. Whilst this project addressed four priority actions of the Sendai Framework for disaster risk reduction, the links were made to the local development approach at the community level to build resilient communities. The Sri Lanka Community Resilience Framework (CRF) has been the driving concept behind the risk-sensitive approach in development planning. The state officials at the sub-national (district) levels were trained as trainers on CRF and risk-sensitive development planning process. The community-level state staff officials and local government officers were then trained by district state officials through cascade training programs. This chapter details the capacity-building strategy, process, and tools for creating risk-sensitive development plans as a locally led sustainable approach. One of the key lessons from the risk-sensitive development approach identified the absence of efforts to integrate climate change adaptation measures. The lack of an integrated and holistic approach highlighted the importance of further strengthening the Linkages in Disaster Reduction, Development, and Climate Change Adaptation (LDRDCCA), aligning with three post-2015 global agendas.

ACS Style

A. M. Aslam Saja; S. M. Lafir Sahid; M. Sutharshanan. Capacity-Building Strategy for Creating Disaster- and Climate-Risk-Sensitive Development Plans—A Case Study of Multi-Stakeholder Engagement in Sri Lanka. Disaster Risk Reduction 2021, 231 -249.

AMA Style

A. M. Aslam Saja, S. M. Lafir Sahid, M. Sutharshanan. Capacity-Building Strategy for Creating Disaster- and Climate-Risk-Sensitive Development Plans—A Case Study of Multi-Stakeholder Engagement in Sri Lanka. Disaster Risk Reduction. 2021; ():231-249.

Chicago/Turabian Style

A. M. Aslam Saja; S. M. Lafir Sahid; M. Sutharshanan. 2021. "Capacity-Building Strategy for Creating Disaster- and Climate-Risk-Sensitive Development Plans—A Case Study of Multi-Stakeholder Engagement in Sri Lanka." Disaster Risk Reduction , no. : 231-249.

Journal article
Published: 17 November 2020 in International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction
Reads 0
Downloads 0

The key challenge in social resilience assessment is to translate abstract and complex concepts to enable its measurement. Existing measures of social resilience indicators are problematic as these do not necessarily account for the multi-faceted and dynamic nature of the indicators. Therefore, innovative and reliable measurement approaches are required to improve the incorporation of social resilience measures in disaster management policy and practice. The adoption of a surrogate approach, which has received limited attention in a disaster management context, can help to overcome the conceptual challenges inherent in measuring such indicators by capturing key facets of the target indicator and facilitate robust social resilience measurement. This manuscript presents a set of potential surrogates for social resilience indicators identified in an exploratory research investigation. The data was collected using a case study approach utilising interviews with disaster practitioners and policy makers. The data analysis revealed six potential surrogates for each social resilience indicator. The identified potential surrogates provide a reliable measure of social resilience in policy and practice to devise appropriate strategies for enhancing social resilience by regularly monitoring and updating the resilience status using locally available administrative data. The potential surrogates identified to measure social resilience indicators can also be replicated with proper contextualisation in different geographic and hazard exposure settings.

ACS Style

A.M. Aslam Saja; Melissa Teo; Ashantha Goonetilleke; Abdul M. Ziyath. Assessing social resilience in disaster management. International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction 2020, 52, 101957 .

AMA Style

A.M. Aslam Saja, Melissa Teo, Ashantha Goonetilleke, Abdul M. Ziyath. Assessing social resilience in disaster management. International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction. 2020; 52 ():101957.

Chicago/Turabian Style

A.M. Aslam Saja; Melissa Teo; Ashantha Goonetilleke; Abdul M. Ziyath. 2020. "Assessing social resilience in disaster management." International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction 52, no. : 101957.

Earlycite article
Published: 26 February 2020 in International Journal of Disaster Resilience in the Built Environment
Reads 0
Downloads 0

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to present a framework for evaluation and ranking of potential surrogates to select the optimum surrogates and test it for five selected social resilience indicators in a disaster context. Innovative resilience assessment approaches are required to capture key facets of resilience indicators to deepen the understanding of social resilience. Surrogates can adequately represent the target indicator that is difficult to measure, as surrogates are defined as key facets of a target indicator. Design/methodology/approach To optimize the selection of surrogates, five key evaluation criteria were used. Disaster management experts completed an online survey questionnaire and evaluated three potential surrogate options. Surrogates were then ranked using PROMETHEE, a multi-experts multi-criteria group decision analysis technique. Findings A framework was devised to evaluate and rank potential surrogates to assess social resilience in a disaster context. The findings revealed that the first ranked surrogate can be the most critical facet of a resilience indicator of measure. In most instances, highly experienced cohort of practitioners and policy makers have aligned their preferences of surrogates with the overall ranking of surrogates obtained in this study. Research limitations/implications The surrogate approach can also be tested in different disaster and geographic contexts. The resilience indicators used in this study to explore surrogates are largely applicable in all contexts. However, the preference of surrogates may also vary in different contexts. Practical implications Once the surrogate is selected through an evaluation process proposed in this paper, the resilience status can be updated regularly with the help of the selected surrogate. The first ranked surrogate for each of the social resilience indicator can be applied, since the findings revealed that the first ranked surrogate can be the most critical facet in the context of the social resilience indicator being measured. Social implications The framework and the selection of optimal surrogates will assist to overcome the conceptual and methodical challenges of social resilience assessment. The applicability of selected surrogates by practitioners and policymakers in disaster management will play a vital role in resilience investment decision-making at the community level. Originality/value The surrogate approach has been used in the fields of ecology and clinical medicine to overcome the challenges in measuring difficult to measure indicators. The use of surrogates in this study to measure social resilience indicators in a disaster context is innovative, which was not yet explored in resilience measurement in disaster management. Graphical abstract

ACS Style

Abdul Majeed Aslam Saja; Melissa Teo; Ashantha Goonetilleke; A.M. Ziyath; Jagath Gunatilake. Selection of surrogates to assess social resilience in disaster management using multi-criteria decision analysis. International Journal of Disaster Resilience in the Built Environment 2020, 11, 453 -480.

AMA Style

Abdul Majeed Aslam Saja, Melissa Teo, Ashantha Goonetilleke, A.M. Ziyath, Jagath Gunatilake. Selection of surrogates to assess social resilience in disaster management using multi-criteria decision analysis. International Journal of Disaster Resilience in the Built Environment. 2020; 11 (4):453-480.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Abdul Majeed Aslam Saja; Melissa Teo; Ashantha Goonetilleke; A.M. Ziyath; Jagath Gunatilake. 2020. "Selection of surrogates to assess social resilience in disaster management using multi-criteria decision analysis." International Journal of Disaster Resilience in the Built Environment 11, no. 4: 453-480.

Article
Published: 18 February 2020 in International Journal of Disaster Risk Science
Reads 0
Downloads 0

Understanding social resilience can assist in the formulation of disaster management policies to help communities better prepare for, respond to, and recover from disasters. However, direct social resilience measurement methods such as household surveys are not always a practical option as they are a time- and resource-exhaustive process. Existing measures mainly utilize publicly available census data, which often provide a poor and outdated assessment of current social resilience status. Another limitation includes a failure to capture multiple facets of indicators that are process-oriented and dynamic in nature such as mobility of people. These challenges can be addressed by employing a surrogate approach. Surrogates are alternative measures to depict the target indicator. The surrogate approach can capture key facets of a target indicator, which can be used as potential measures for the target indicator. A framework to conceptualize the surrogate approach is presented, and operationalized using a case study approach on the southeastern coast of Sri Lanka to identify surrogates to measure mobility of people as a resilience indicator. Six higher-order themes were identified as potential surrogates to measure mobility of people in a disaster context. The approach proposed to methodically identify potential surrogates and their measurement protocols can help to improve the current knowledge base and understanding of complex interrelationships of social resilience.

ACS Style

Abdul Majeed Aslam Saja; Melissa Teo; Ashantha Goonetilleke; Abdul M. Ziyath; K. W. G. Rekha Nianthi. Surrogate Measures to Assess Mobility of People as a Resilience Indicator in Disaster Management: An Exploratory Study in Southeastern Sri Lanka. International Journal of Disaster Risk Science 2020, 11, 13 -31.

AMA Style

Abdul Majeed Aslam Saja, Melissa Teo, Ashantha Goonetilleke, Abdul M. Ziyath, K. W. G. Rekha Nianthi. Surrogate Measures to Assess Mobility of People as a Resilience Indicator in Disaster Management: An Exploratory Study in Southeastern Sri Lanka. International Journal of Disaster Risk Science. 2020; 11 (1):13-31.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Abdul Majeed Aslam Saja; Melissa Teo; Ashantha Goonetilleke; Abdul M. Ziyath; K. W. G. Rekha Nianthi. 2020. "Surrogate Measures to Assess Mobility of People as a Resilience Indicator in Disaster Management: An Exploratory Study in Southeastern Sri Lanka." International Journal of Disaster Risk Science 11, no. 1: 13-31.

Journal article
Published: 28 October 2019 in Progress in Disaster Science
Reads 0
Downloads 0

In the context of disaster-development nexus, an integrated approach to disaster risk reduction and development interventions from national to community had been lacking. The existing stand-alone approaches reduced aid effectiveness and proven to be not efficient for resilience investment. This paper discusses a new risk-sensitive approach to development planning piloted by DIPECHO (DIsaster Preparedness project of European Commission Humanitarian Office) partners in Sri Lanka by drawing lessons from past experiences in implementing stand-alone CBDRM and community development projects. A framework for integrating disaster resilience strategies within the development process is proposed from the reflections of the risk-sensitive development planning process.

ACS Style

Abdul Majeed Aslam Saja; M.S. Lafir Sahid; M. Sutharshanan. Implementing Sendai Framework priorities through risk-sensitive development planning – A case study from Sri Lanka. Progress in Disaster Science 2019, 5, 100051 .

AMA Style

Abdul Majeed Aslam Saja, M.S. Lafir Sahid, M. Sutharshanan. Implementing Sendai Framework priorities through risk-sensitive development planning – A case study from Sri Lanka. Progress in Disaster Science. 2019; 5 ():100051.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Abdul Majeed Aslam Saja; M.S. Lafir Sahid; M. Sutharshanan. 2019. "Implementing Sendai Framework priorities through risk-sensitive development planning – A case study from Sri Lanka." Progress in Disaster Science 5, no. : 100051.

Review
Published: 01 April 2019 in International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction
Reads 0
Downloads 0
ACS Style

Abdul Majeed Aslam Saja; Ashantha Goonetilleke; Melissa Teo; Abdul M. Ziyath. A critical review of social resilience assessment frameworks in disaster management. International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction 2019, 35, 1 .

AMA Style

Abdul Majeed Aslam Saja, Ashantha Goonetilleke, Melissa Teo, Abdul M. Ziyath. A critical review of social resilience assessment frameworks in disaster management. International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction. 2019; 35 ():1.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Abdul Majeed Aslam Saja; Ashantha Goonetilleke; Melissa Teo; Abdul M. Ziyath. 2019. "A critical review of social resilience assessment frameworks in disaster management." International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction 35, no. : 1.

Journal article
Published: 01 June 2018 in International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction
Reads 0
Downloads 0

Resilience is a multifaceted phenomenon, and approaches to measure resilience across disciplines have produced wide-ranging methods. This paper presents an inclusive and adaptive ‘5 S’ social resilience framework that was developed based on the critical review of existing social resilience frameworks discussed in the literature. The proposed social resilience framework consists of five sub-dimensions of social resilience, namely, social structure, social capital, social mechanisms, social equity, and social belief, a set of 16 characteristics, and corresponding 46 indicators. While the key social resilience characteristics are integrated within a single framework, it is flexible enough for adapting to a specific context as needed. Key challenges in resilience measurement approaches developed in disaster management context are also highlighted in this paper. The direct measures of social resilience are resource intensive. Hence, proxy measures have been widely used using data available in the public domain which often result in inadequate measurement of social resilience. It is imperative to explore use of surrogates in measuring social resilience characteristics that are complex and not easily measurable directly.

ACS Style

A.M. Aslam Saja; Melissa Teo; Ashantha Goonetilleke; Abdul M. Ziyath. An inclusive and adaptive framework for measuring social resilience to disasters. International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction 2018, 28, 862 -873.

AMA Style

A.M. Aslam Saja, Melissa Teo, Ashantha Goonetilleke, Abdul M. Ziyath. An inclusive and adaptive framework for measuring social resilience to disasters. International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction. 2018; 28 ():862-873.

Chicago/Turabian Style

A.M. Aslam Saja; Melissa Teo; Ashantha Goonetilleke; Abdul M. Ziyath. 2018. "An inclusive and adaptive framework for measuring social resilience to disasters." International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction 28, no. : 862-873.

Journal article
Published: 15 February 2016 in Journal of Water, Sanitation and Hygiene for Development
Reads 0
Downloads 0

Development of a four hazard-specific toolkit (drought, flood, landslide and chronic kidney diseases of unknown aetiology) for needs and vulnerability assessment in the water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) sector included community consultations with district, divisional and community stakeholders in four selected districts of Sri Lanka, which are highly prone to the respective hazards. Existing global WASH tools such as sphere and global WASH cluster indicators are contextualized, and the toolkit covers three different displacement scenarios: no displacement, temporary displacement (short and medium term), and camp-based displacement. This toolkit focuses on four key sections of WASH: water supply, sanitation, waste management and control, and hygiene practices and promotion. The toolkit consists of a set of indicators in the areas of WASH that are relevant to the selected scenario in the Sri Lankan context for the specific hazard, a checklist for initial and rapid assessment before and after disasters, and some guide notes for the field works.

ACS Style

Aslam Saja; Prasad Bhagwan Sevekari. Needs and vulnerability assessment (NAVA) indicators for specific hazards in the context of Sri Lanka. Journal of Water, Sanitation and Hygiene for Development 2016, 6, 184 -189.

AMA Style

Aslam Saja, Prasad Bhagwan Sevekari. Needs and vulnerability assessment (NAVA) indicators for specific hazards in the context of Sri Lanka. Journal of Water, Sanitation and Hygiene for Development. 2016; 6 (1):184-189.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Aslam Saja; Prasad Bhagwan Sevekari. 2016. "Needs and vulnerability assessment (NAVA) indicators for specific hazards in the context of Sri Lanka." Journal of Water, Sanitation and Hygiene for Development 6, no. 1: 184-189.