Managing disasters should be government's top priority

The Jakarta Post , Jakarta | Mon, 09/17/2007 2:46 PM | Opinion

Rizal Sukma, Jakarta

Devastating natural disasters have indeed become a regular feature of life in Indonesia. The series of earthquakes that hit Bengkulu, West Sumatra and Sulawesi last week serve as confirmation of that unpleasant reality. Our mindset -- and also that of the government -- has to adjust to the fact that we will continue to face challenges from nature in the future.

But will Indonesia ever be ready to face such challenges? We have taken the first few steps. The parliament has already passed Law No. 24/2007 on Disaster Management. The government has also taken measures to strengthen the Coordinating Agency for Disaster Management (Bakornas PB), and a plan to establish a National Agency for Disaster Management (BNPB) -- which will replace Bakornas PB -- is underway.

However, there are still a number of issues in need of radical solutions. First, we need to change our attitude toward disasters. Natural and man-made disasters should no longer be seen as ""accidental phenomena"". From now on, we should see disasters as a normal state of affairs that requires constant preparedness and a response capability that is on constant standby.

Second, while the government's response to the disasters in Bengkulu and West Sumatra has been far quicker that in other disasters, criticism -- such as from some PDI-P politicians -- has still been heard. In order to strengthen a sense of urgency, disasters should be framed as a threat to human security that requires an extraordinary response from the state, and greater regional and international cooperation.

Third, if we can achieve the two changes mentioned above, then responding to, and managing, disasters will become an automatic function of the state. There should be state institutions capable of responding quickly on their own to a disaster, without having to wait for a ""coordination"" meeting and instructions from the President. For this to occur, however, we still need to wait for the establishment of the BNPB and its branches in the regions.

Fourth, as Indonesia continues to face natural disasters, we need to encourage the establishment of a regional mechanism and protocol for managing the humanitarian impacts of disasters. Since disasters pose a serious threat to human security, working together among regional nations to address the threat -- especially within the framework of ASEAN -- should not be constrained by sensitivities over sovereignty. While we should definitely prioritize our own national capacity to respond, addressing human suffering should not be held back by the tyranny of territorial borders.

Fifth, man-made disasters pose us with a more complex challenge. There should be a greater willingness and more effort on the part of the government to address the problem of negligence and complacency. The recent explosion at the Serpong nuclear research facility, for example, should be a starting point. The government needs to speed up, transparently, its investigations into how such an incident could occur. The continuing problems of illegal logging and forest fires are other examples of man-made problems that have to be looked at.

Finally, the recent earthquakes in Bengkulu and West Sumatra should really serve a reminder -- in case we have already forgotten -- that Indonesia is located on the so-called Ring of Fire, where earthquakes are a continuous problem. We should focus our attention on developing and strengthening the government's capacity to respond to this problem. If we cannot even deal with this problem adequately, then it would be foolish to expect that we could do better if a natural disaster, such as an earthquake, hit one of the areas where the government plans to build a nuclear power plant.

Our resources and attention -- for the time being -- should be prioritized toward figuring out the best way to respond to single disasters such as earthquakes. An earthquake and a nuclear leak at the same time would be beyond us at this time. There is no need to add misery to an already acute problem.

The writer is the deputy executive director of the Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS).

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