Ashadi, Persistently Calling for Disaster Alert

KOMPAS/MEGANDIKA WICAKSONO

Ashadi

The tsunami that hit the southern coast of Java on July 17, 2006 devastated the Pangandaran area in West Java, Cilacap in Central Java and around Yogyakarta. Many residents were injured and killed. That experience opened the eyes of the residents to the enormity of the disaster and encouraged Ashadi, 45, a young man from Widarapayung Wetan village, Cilacap, to persistently call for disaster alert as early as possible.

“After the tsunami, everyone was displaced and there were only soldiers. While the bodies of the tsunami victims were collected in the village hall. I and Pak Carik [the village secretary] stayed observing the bodies of the victims,” Ashadi said on Friday (1/25/2019) at his home in Widarapayung Wetan village, Cilacap.

Ashadi clearly remembers the tsunami that hit the land as far as 300 meters from the coastline occurred on Monday at 4:15 p.m. During the incident, Ashadi was indeed not on the beach. However, from the story of the survivors in his village, including from his uncle Mashuri, the sea water had subsided far enough prior to the tsunami. “Then, from the west or around Pangandaran, there was a kind of ‘foam’ running in the middle of the sea. The foam was like the one from the speed boat. The community did not know what the tsunami was and instead watched it. They thought it was the wind, but it turned out that it was the 5-7 meters high waves,” he explained.

The victims were mostly fishermen, tourists and residents who were collecting mussels for duck feed. “Many of the victims were rolled into the Lancang River, which is about 300 meters from the shoreline,” he said.

Various buildings collapsed to the ground hit by the tsunami. Gazebo, kiosks and beach tourist pools were also totally damaged. From the data in Widarapayung Wetan village, in addition to 71 fatalities, the tsunami also injured 66 people, made 36 people lost their businesses, 36 people lost fishnets and eight houses were damaged. The tsunami also made the river narrowed from 50 meters to 20 meters wide. Material losses are estimated at Rp 650 million.

Sibat

Since the incident, in 2007-2008 Ashadi was appointed to represent his village to participate in various disaster mitigation training, both by Gadjah Mada University and the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI), as well as mentoring by Cilacap Red Cross (PMI). Armed with this training and knowledge, Ashadi then formed a volunteer group called Sibat, an acronym for Community Based Disaster Alert. “There are 20 volunteers who are members of Sibat. They are representatives from hamlets or grumbul in this village,” said the husband of Wati Isrofah, 39.

Since its founding in 2009, this volunteer group has been persistent in providing information on various disasters and their mitigation, including tsunamis.

There are three elementary schools, three Islamic elementary schools and one early childhood education in the village that are given training about the introduction and disaster mitigation. In addition, familiarization at various meetings began at the neighborhoods of RT, RW, hamlet level and also after the praying time. The familiarization activity was also carried out by Ashadi and his friends. For example, during the month of Ramadan, Ashadi gave socialization to the congregation after the Tarawih night prayer. “We strive to provide awareness of the dangers of disasters, prepare the public to remain vigilant and to stay alert to minimize the risks,” he said.

One of the excellent programs carried out by Ashadi and the fellow volunteers in disaster mitigation is by encouraging residents to prepare

snacks at homes. “There is a local wisdom, that is striking kentongan when there is a disaster. At least one house has one kentongan,” he said, referring to a bamboo percussion used for alarms.

Now, there is one siren for a tsunami early warning device in his village.

Ashadi always reminds the citizens to store and prepare important family documents in locations easily accessible to family members. If at any time there is a disaster and they must evacuate, all valuables and documents can be brought immediately. “We also ask the residents to tie up the cupboard and cabinet to the wall. If there is an earthquake, at least it can reduce the potential for collapse and save the family members,” said Ashadi, who is also active in the fields of tourism, agriculture and youth clubs in the village.

In terms of the evacuation routes and directions, the Sibat group, which was later integrated and became part of the village’s Tangguh Bencana disaster resilience program, has also cooperatively made and installed the evacuation route signage. “The community must be better prepared and more aware of what must be done when disaster hits,” he said.

The types of disasters informed by Ashadi and fellow volunteers were not only tsunamis and earthquakes, but also fires, droughts, floods and potential traffic accidents. “The parents’ message to their children to be careful every time they are about to go to school in the morning can instill awareness and alertness from an early age,” he said.

More than a decade after the tsunami struck the Widarapayung Beach area, at least the Sibat volunteer group together with the residents had planted trees on the beach. There are around 2,000 coconut trees and sea cypress planted to reduce the risk of direct tsunami waves on a 15-hectare land or 1.3 kilometers of coastline.

The effort to inflame the spirit of preparedness in the community by Ashadi and volunteers is not always smooth and easy. In addition to funding problems and falling to embrace cadres to be loyal, Ashadi also often finds people who are reluctant to stand guard because they have a paradigm that their lives including fate in disasters have been arranged by the Almighty.

“Often people are fatalistic and they do not care about information related to disaster mitigation,” Ashadi said.

Local residents, Ashadi said, jokingly described him as “the one that brings the disaster”. When there is Ashadi, there is disaster. What they mean is information related to disasters. In addition, the government support still needs to be improved, especially to build the roads or access to the evacuation sites in the northern part of the area so that people are not jammed during evacuation.

Cilacap Disaster Management Agency head Tri Komara said that Ashadi was a citizen and youth that has totality in promoting public awareness of the dangers of disasters.

“Ashadi is an all-out person,” Tri said. Therefore, in terms of mitigation, the local administrations also need synergy with the community, especially in the 26 disaster-resilient villages, both in the tsunami-prone beaches, landslides-prone area in the west and the flood-prone area in the east.

Ashadi

Born: Cilacap, May 2, 1973

Education:

- Junior high school SMPN 1 Binangun, Cilacap

- Senior high school SMAN 1 Kroya, Cilacap

- Law degree from the Wijayakusuma University in Purwokerto

Wife: Wati Isrofah, 39

Children: Linda (19), Zaza (14) and Alika (1)

Activity: Chairman of Tangguh Bencana village in Widarapayung Wetan