Govt Urged to Improve Disaster Victims Management

KOMPAS/VIDELIS JEMALI

An aerial view of tents at an evacuation center in Balaroa village, West Palu district, Palu city, Central Sulawesi, Friday (1/11/2019). The tents accommodate 200 families of survivors who have not been allocated semi-permanent housing. They continue to reside in tents 13 months after the earthquake.

JAKARTA, KOMPAS — The National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) will improve its standards of post-disaster survivors management. However, regional administrations will be responsible for the implementation."There have been improvements in disaster survivor management in Lombok, Palu and Sinabung, even if there\'s still work to be done," BNPB chief Doni Monardo told Kompas over the phone on Tuesday (5/11/2019).

Common obstacles include the disaster\'s complexity, local social conditions and local governments\' poor disaster management capacity. For instance, the series of earthquakes in Lombok resulted in changing data. "Houses that were slightly damaged became severely damaged due to aftershocks. This delayed disaster management," Doni said.

In Palu, the complexity of social dynamics obstructs disaster management efforts. "Some want relocation and others refuse to live in temporary housing. Some want cash despite it being allocated to build houses," he continued.

Regarding social issues in temporary housing, Doni said the government would revise its survivors management policy. "There may be no temporary housing anymore but rent money for locals. The policy in Ambon will be used as example," he said, adding that the BNPB had no authority in regions as regional disaster mitigation agencies (BPBD) are under regional administrations.

KOMPAS/VIDELIS JEMALI

A woman and her granddaughter sit relaxed in front of stilt house in Pengawu village, Tatanga district, Palu city, Central Sulawesi, Monday (28/10/2019). Temporary stilt houses are dangerous for children and other vulnerable groups.

Disaster mitigation volunteers group Sulteng Bergerak coordinator Adriansa Manu said regional administrations did not have proper disaster management policies and were often overwhelmed when huge disasters occurred.

Secretary-general Khadafy Badjerey of Pasigala Center, a consortium of social agencies involved in disaster management in Central Sulawesi, said a special agency comprising central and regional government bodies should be established to tackle huge disasters.

Parallel strategy

BNPB spokesperson Agus Wibowo said a parallel strategy would be applied in managing disaster survivors. During the emergency response period, the BNPB would facilitate the construction of permanent housing for survivors for the sake of their safety and comfort during the post-disaster reconstruction and rehabilitation process. During the construction of the permanent housing, survivors will get a temporary housing allowance of Rp 500,000 per family.

KOMPAS/VIDELIS JEMALI

A housewife sits in her tent in an evacuation center in Balaroa village, West Palu district, Palu city, Central Sulawesi, Friday (1/11/2019). With no separators inside the tent, the privacy of residents, especially women and girls, is under threat.

The strategy was put into practice in post-disaster management in Ambon. It was not implemented in Sinabung, Lombok and Palu as the post-disaster rehabilitation and reconstruction funds in the regions were managed by the regional administration. "The fund has just been disbursed in Ambon. The local administration can use it for reconstruction process," Agus said.

As of 30 October 2019, the BNPB had disbursed Rp 5.2 trillion for earthquake survivors in Lombok and built 105,313 homes. Another 70,029 homes were under construction. In Palu, Rp 79.7 billion had been disbursed, 10 homes had been built and 1,240 homes were under construction. In Sigi regency, Rp 80.1 billion had been disbursed, 10 homes had been built and 1,255 homes were under construction. In Sinabung, Rp 733 billion had been disbursed, 2,156 homes had been built and 922 homes were under construction.

Regarding gender-based violence against women in shelters, Women’s Empowerment and Child Protection Ministry undersecretary of women\'s rights protection, Vennetia R. Danes, said prevention could be done by establishing women and child-friendly posts. "Interagency coordination is needed to make temporary housing hospitable for women and children," she said.(AIK/FRD/VDL/ZAK/SON)