The government is considering setting up a sinking fund for the management of man-made disasters, said Deputy Prime Minister Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail.

She said the matter was being studied by the Energy, Science, Technology, Environment and Climate Change Ministry.

"The implementation will enhance the accountability of the industry players to prevent incidents such as fire, haze and chemical pollution.

"Industry players will also have to contribute to its operating costs towards the management of disasters and the restoration efforts," she told reporters after launching the National Preparedness Month 2019 in Cyberjaya today.

Also present was National Disaster Management Agency director-general Mohtar Mohd Abd Rahman.

Asked if the implementation would involve legal provisions, Wan Azizah said the Environment Ministry would look into the matter as well as look at how the industry players could contribute to make clean-up efforts much more efficient.

Meanwhile, on the increase in incest cases, Wan Azizah, who is also women, family and community development minister, said strong faith and moral values were important to prevent this from happening.

She said among the ministry's efforts in addressing the issue of child sexual abuse was to launch "safe touch" and "bad touch" sex education videos.

The National Population and Family Development Board would come out with the Social Health Education Module to increase people’s knowledge on the reproductive and sexual health, she added.

Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Liew Vui Keong said yesterday that the number of incest cases filed in court this year had increased compared to last year.

He said as of August this year, 57 cases were recorded compared to 21 throughout 2018.

- Bernama