Higher Disaster Risk Leaves Regions Unprepared

KOMPAS/VIDELIS JEMALI

Logs pile up on the banks of the Mui River in Tuva village, Gumbasa district, Sigi regency, Central Sulawesi, as seen on Thursday (02/05/2019). The logs were swept downstream on a Sunday in April (28/4/2019) during flooding that destroyed six houses and a highway. The logs were allegedly among the many that were illegally felled in the upstream forests of the Kulawi district.

JAKARTA, KOMPAS— Not all regional administrations are prepared to face the increased risk of disasters, in terms of both their intensity and the extent of damage they cause. Aside from budgetary issues, this unpreparedness is apparent in regional efforts in disaster response.

The floods, flash floods and landslides in Sentani (Papua), Sigi (Central Sualwesi), Enrekang (South Sualwesi), Bengkulu (Bengkulu) and Bandung (West Java) show that many regions have been overwhelmed by recent disasters. Many regions require cross-regional coordination in disaster response.

Apart from budgets that are smaller than disaster-related economic losses, regions are also unprepared in terms of evacuation shelters and relief distribution in disaster-prone areas, as well as a lack of early warning systems.

“No one has been taking disaster issues seriously. Otherwise, we would be able to anticipate the risks. The fact is, the number of victims and the amount of financial losses remain high,” Sidoarjo Regent Saiful Ilah, who also chairs the Regency Administrations Association (Apkasi), said on Tuesday (5/7/2019).

Saiful said that regional administrations should be committed to resolving both upstream and downstream disaster issues. He said he would raise the issue at a meeting of regents during the 2019 Apkasi Otonomi Expo in Jakarta on July 3-5.

Indonesian Municipal Administrations Association (Apeksi) chair Airin Rachmi Diany, who is also the mayor of Tangerang, shared Saiful’s view. She said that not all cities were well prepared to respond to disasters. For instance, many regions still lacked a disaster master plan.

Airin said that among those cities with good disaster preparedness was Padang, which had established an early warning system and evacuation routes. Semarang, with its early warning system for floods, was also deemed to be well prepared.

KOMPAS/ISMAIL ZAKARIA

Residents of Sangir Balai Janggo district, South Solok regency, West Sumatra, were still living in makeshift tents in front of their homes as of March 1 (1/3/2019). They were doing this because they did not dare to stay inside their homes after earthquakes with magnitudes of 4.8 and 5.3 occurred on the previous Thursday (28/2/2019).

Airin said that Tangerang also had disaster preparedness, emergency response and post-disaster reconstruction mechanisms, with all local agencies assigned specific roles.

Involving stakeholders

Eko Teguh Paripurno of the disaster management master’s program at “Veteran“ Yogyakarta University of National Development (UPN) said that disaster mitigation should involve at least five parties: the government, the public, academics, the mass media and businesses.

The administration and people of a disaster-affected region were responsible for carrying out disaster mitigation efforts, both structural and nonstructural. Structural disaster mitigation aimed to minimize the risk of disaster through technological development and approaches, including constructing flood control channels and installing a landslide early warning system.

KOMPAS/HENDRA A SETYAWAN

Students take part in an earthquake drill at SMAN 78 state senior high school, Kemanggisan, Jakarta, on a Wednesday in January (23/1/2019). This simulation was part of an effort to make them aware of various issues and skills related to security and safety in the event of a disaster.

Nonstructural disaster mitigation could include policies on disaster risk reduction, improved spatial planning and better public awareness on disaster risk. “For Indonesia, nonstructural mitigation is much more important,” said Eko.

Meanwhile, academics were responsible for studying and introducing technologies to minimize the risk of disaster, and the mass media must spread information on disaster risk and mitigation efforts. Businesses must ensure that they do not contribute to disasters. “Who should be ready? Everyone, including the government, academics, the people, the mass media and businesses,” Eko stressed.

Poor spatial planning and damaged watershed areas were among the causes of natural disasters, not extreme weather and weather anomalies. Water catchment areas in many regions had been converted into residential zones.

In Sentani, Sigi and Central Bengkulu, for instance, flash floods have affected many residential areas. Mudflow and tree debris have destroyed homes, and many areas are inundated by floodwaters. Roads and bridges have been cut off, and public facilities have been damaged.

KOMPAS/YUNIADHI AGUNG

Students of TK/SD Hati Kudus kindergarten and elementary school in Jelambar, Jakarta, participate in an earthquake evacuation drill on a Friday in November last year (30/11/2018). Such simulations are periodically carried out at the school to teach the students what must be done when an earthquake occurs.

Home Minister Tjahjo Kumolo said that he had urged local administrations to anticipate disaster risk in planning their budgets. “If a disaster strikes, [local administrations] must not rely exclusively on aid from the central [government]. They must first be able to manage [the disaster] on their own,” he said.(BOW/PIN/HRS/INA/RAM/FLO/VDL/GSA)