THE Lami Town Council has urged people within its municipality to avoid settling in coastal areas.
The calls came following a survey on areas that will be affected if they are hit by a 20ft tsunami.
A chart provided by the council shows that if they are hit by a tsunami, 90 per cent of the population of Lami will be affected.
Jasper Singh, council special administrator said they encouraged people to move to higher grounds.
"One way we can minimise the effect is stopping people from residing along coastal areas upon government's approval," Mr Singh said.
"We have also asked government to plan for more inward development," Mr Singh added.
Lami he said had been proactive on talking to business houses on a one-to-one basis on the development of the town.
Permanent secretary for Disaster Management, Lieutenant Colonel Inia Seruiratu said one of their biggest challenges now was to avoid people from settling in areas which were vulnerable.
He said government needed to minimise cost, be proactive because in previous years they noticed people continued with the usual practice when disaster occurred.
He said people should now focus more on disaster management post disaster in terms of relief, recovery and rehabilitation.
"Realism is an essential element of training and people need to do some exercise so that everyone can be better prepared," Lt-Col Seruiratu said.