Disaster Survivors Still Suffering
More than a year after a series of natural disasters, thousands of survivors continue to live under uncertain conditions. The management system of this disaster-prone country needs a complete overhaul.
More than a year after a series of natural disasters, thousands of survivors continue to live under uncertain conditions. The management system of this disaster-prone country needs a complete overhaul.
JAKARTA, KOMPAS – The major disasters, like the earthquakes followed by a tsunami in Palu and Lombok as well as the volcanic eruption in Sinabung, have passed. However, post-disaster recovery efforts have yet to free thousands of survivors in the country from a multitude of problems.
The needs of disaster survivors have not been managed properly in Palu, Sigi and Donggala (Central Sulawesi), Lombok (West Nusa Tenggara) and Sinabung (North Sumatra). A field survey and coverage Kompas conducted on 22-29 Oct. 2019 discovered that many survivors were still facing basic issues like the lack of a clean water supply, unequal distribution of aid, incomplete data collection and delays in the provision of permanent housing.
The majority of respondents in Palu, Donggala and Lombok believed that the government was making serious efforts, but many problems remain in the field.
We’ve been living in tents for more than a year.
In Balaroa subdistrict of West Palu, Central Sulawesi, around 200 families (800 people) that survived the soil liquefaction were still living in stuffy emergency tents on Sunday (3/11/2019). Their circumstances have not changed much since the emergency period immediately following the disaster.
“We’ve been living in tents for more than a year,” Rosna Halim, 32, a soil liquefaction survivor, said at the evacuation camp in Balaroa on Wednesday.
The earthquake of on 28 Sept. 2018, followed by soil liquefaction and a tsunami, ravaged Palu, Sigi and Donggala. Data from the Central Sulawesi Secretariat shows that 3,124 people were killed, 705 were still missing and 1,016 others were buried in mass graves without formal identification. The disaster also destroyed 110,124 houses, valued at Rp 24.96 trillion. Today, the survivors are displaced in temporary housing and emergency tents at 400 sites.
Emergency and logistics head Bambang Sabarsyah of the Palu Regional Disaster Management Agency (BPBD) said that temporary housing was not built in Balaroa due to its sloped terrain. In addition, the survivors refused the housing and requested cash aid instead.
“Many people are living in temporary houses in Duyu and Pengawu subdistricts,” he said. The subdistricts are located about 2 kilometers from the Balaroa camp.
Those living in temporary houses face uneven distribution of basic needs. One family living in temporary housing has received 5 kilograms of rice, mattresses and a 3 kg LPG canister complete with a countertop burner. Another family only received rice; yet another received no aid.
“We were not aware of such aid when we moved in,” said Alamsyah, 41, who resides in a temporary house in Tompe village of Sirenja district, Donggala regency, 25 kilometers from Palu.
About 400 people were killed, hundreds suffered serious injuries and 360,000 others were evacuated.
In North Lombok, the survivors of the August 2018 quake who live in temporary houses in Karang Montong Daya of East Pemenang village, Pemenang, West Nusa Tenggara (NTB), are anxious about the coming rainy season. The walls of the temporary houses are stained up to 50 centimeters with mud from floods.
“Last year, these houses were flooded. They are set low,” said survivor Lalu Hamdi, 32.
According to the NTB BPBD’s data, the earthquake caused severe, moderate and light damage to 222,530 houses. About 400 people were killed, hundreds suffered serious injuries and 360,000 others were evacuated.
A year later, the discrepancy in managing the survivors is apparent. The farther away a survivor is from the NTB capital of Mataram, the worse their situation. This includes the distribution of disaster aid, which has caused conflict between villages.
Social envy is another issue that has emerged between villages near urban areas and those in the mountains. The theft of aid has occurred in isolated villages in East Pemenang district, which are beyond the reach of aid.
Permanent houses
The provision of permanent housing is a major issue in all regions. NTB BPBD data shows that 105,449 units (47.39 percent) of the 222,530 severely, moderately and lightly damaged houses have been repaired or rebuilt, while 69,932 houses (31.43 percent) are still being processed.
We have not received any aid distribution, whereas the data was gathered in 2018.
Collecting data remains a problem, including data on facilitators and construction workers. “We have not received any aid distribution, whereas the data was gathered in 2018,” said Ismak, 40, a resident of Trengan Raya in East Pemenang, North Lombok.
The construction of permanent houses is visible in West and North Lombok, but their progress varies.
Sinabung is facing an even greater problem. Following the latest eruption in 2013, the region is still waiting for 2,000 permanent houses to be completed. The third phase of relocating survivors is still in the planning stage.
“Up to now, we have no idea what will happen to us. We’re waiting for the third phase of the relocation,” said Idawati Singarimbun, 40, a refugee from Mardinding village who is among 40 families living at a temporary housing site in Terung Peren.
Some of the survivors work as farm laborers for Rp 80,000 in daily wages when work is available. They owned 2-5 hectares of farmland in their village, which has been designated a restricted zone.
As Kompas Research and Development found in its survey of survivors, the majority of respondents (above 50 percent) need permanent houses (57.0 percent) and aid as business capital (50.5 percent).
Up to now, we have no idea what will happen to us. We’re waiting for the third phase of the relocation.
In Jakarta, system and strategy deputy Bernardus Wisnu Widjaja of the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) said that maintaining accurate data was the main challenge in post-disaster rehabilitation and reconstruction. The data on the names and addresses of evacuees, which were signed off by regents and mayors, was frequently changing, so the government could not rely on them.
“We’re only providing assistance. The data is collected by the regional authorities. The same is true of NTB post-disaster management. New records are always emerging,” he said.
The BNPB plans to use technology disaster to help gather data on displaced persons, like it did following the Mount Agung disaster, when it worked with Qlue to apply facial recognition technology to validate the data.
Today, the BNPB is exploring cooperation with the Home Ministry to gain access to population data, so that people will not receive duplicate aid.
Regarding the relocation of Sinabung survivors, the head of the BNPB Information Data and Public Relations Center, Agus Wibowo, described the process as “complex”. One of the challenges was the time it took to obtain licenses and land.
Adriansa Manu, the coordinator of Central Sulawesi disaster management volunteer group Sulteng Bergerak, said the government lacked disaster management capacity. The many issues that should have been resolved during the emergency period continued to plague survivors.
Read more : Memory of Palu and Fast Work
These conditions require a solution. Indonesia lies on the “Ring of Fire”, a zone that experiences frequent geological and volcanological phenomena. Data at the Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency’s National Earthquake Center shows that Indonesia is seeing an increase in the frequency of earthquakes.
The country had 11,577 earthquakes in 2018, much more than the 6,929 tremors it experienced in 2017. Of the 2018 quakes, 23 caused massive destruction (Kompas, 29/12/2018).