New disaster body seeks staff training

Prodita Sabarini ,  The Jakarta Post ,  Jakarta   |  Sat, 04/11/2009 1:43 PM  |  National

The National Disaster Management Body (BNPB) says it still relies heavily on the Health Ministry's crisis center when coordinating disaster relief.

"The Health Ministry's crisis center is always one step ahead of us," BNPB director of community empowerment Mudjiharto told a recent seminar on emergency health facilities.

He said the BNPB, just one year into operation, was understaffed and still going through a learning curve.

"We're still young, just a little over a year old, and we're still learning. Meanwhile the Health Ministry's crisis center has more experience than us in dealing with disaster relief," he said.

Mudjiharto said the BNPB had little more than a hundred staff but really required at least 300 people.

He said during the recent Situ Gintung reservoir disaster in Tangerang, which killed more than 100 people when a torrent of muddy water swept through a village area, the Health Ministry and the Tangerang health agency were far quicker in responding to the emergency than the BNPB.

Mudjiharto was speaking at a seminar Tuesday marking World Health Day on April 7 entitled "Save Lives, Make Hospitals Safe in Emergencies".

According to the World Health Organization, Indonesia faced 771 varying incidents of emergencies and disasters between 2004 to 2008, killing nearly a quarter of a million people and injuring close to one million.

The BNPB was established in January 2008 after a presidential regulation ordered it to replace the National Coordinating Body (Bakornas) to improve coordination for emergencies.

"It was very hard to coordinate aid relief under Bakornas because of its limited power," Mudjiharto said.

The BNPB is authorized to issue orders for government officials at all relevant ministries and agencies in times of emergency.

Mudjiharto said when disaster struck an area, a regent or mayor should act as the relief commander, so every city or regency should establish its own disaster management body.

Throughout the past year, two regional bodies have been established - one in Central Java and another in North Sulawesi, and in five other cities across the country. Health Ministry director of basic medical care Marwan T. Nusri said some hospitals had received training in dealing with emergency situations.

"We will continue training programs for medical workers. Hospitals in five provinces have so far received training between 2007 and 2009," he said. "However, we are still limited by resource and transportation problems."

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