Disaster Logistics Management

KOMPAS/ABDULLAH FIKRI ASHRI

Families of victims of the Palu earthquake, Central Sulawesi, get out of the Hercules TNI (Indonesian Military) plane upon arrival at the Sultan Hasanuddin Air Force Air Base, Maros, South Sulawesi, Sunday (30/09/2018). They went to Makassar and its surrounding areas to meet their relatives.

Handling the victims of the earthquake which hit Palu and several places in Central Sulawesi, Friday evening, is a big operation which must be well coordinated.

Many houses and public facilities were severely damaged or leveled to the ground, making it difficult for many residents to shelter and to get clean water and food. The number of victims continued to increase indicating that the impact of the earthquake and tsunami was greater than originally estimated.

Severely damaged infrastructure facilities cut off the power, the fuel supply depleted, and telecommunications networks were paralyzed. This was a challenge for survivors and the earthquake mitigation team.

Based on a number of field reports, severe infrastructure facilities were damaged, including a runway at the airport in Palu, sea ports and roads which connect Palu to other cities, hampering the aid delivery of aid for the victims.

The experience of handling earthquakes and tsunamis in Aceh and Thailand on Dec. 26, 2004 showed that the supply chain management of the humanitarian assistance was not easy because it required large amounts of logistics in a short time.

The handling of the reliefs must be carried out immediately even if the infrastructure facilities were severely damaged and hampered communications and the delivery of the relief to quake victims. The urgent needs to help survivors often exceed the ability of the aid providers, including the desire of some earthquake victims to immediately exit Palu.

In a broad sense, logistics means plans or operations in handling the procurement, distribution, maintenance of food, materials, medical devices and medicines, equipment, or people.

When most of the infrastructure facilities are damaged, the biggest challenge is to reach the disaster area as soon as possible in order to be able to bring appropriate assistance.

The last stage of the logistics supply chain is to reach the relief recipients, which requires detailed works. Therefore, in many disaster handling operations, the involvement of the military personnel, which have been well trained to work properly and have a strong mentality, is essential.

Airports play an important role in sending aid, medicines, equipment, and health workers and other personnel.

Therefore, we appreciate the government’s rapid action to immediately repair the airport so that it would be able to operate normally again in less than a week. The availability of telecommunications,

electricity and fuel is equally important to accelerate the distribution of aid and recovery of the victims and affected areas.

President Joko Widodo has formally allowed the involvement of foreign aid in Palu. A good coordination from the center to the beneficiaries is a critical point to ensure a successful post-disaster management. The chain of command is clearly essential for the successful handling and recovery of victims and affected areas.

Learning from a number of earthquakes and tsunamis in the country, in the future we have to invest and innovate to enable cities, communities and households to manage and adapt better to disasters since Indonesia is located at boundaries of the active plates of the earth.