T

he Jakarta Disaster Mitigation Agency (BPBD) is inviting community members and business entities to change their mind-sets in dealing with annual disasters in Jakarta, particularly flooding and fires, by prioritizing preventive rather than responsive measures.

'€œDisasters can cause harm to anyone, including private residents and business entities, and they, therefore, should improve cooperation with government institutions in preventing disasters,'€ head of BPBD disaster prevention division Danang Susanto said.

He said that annual disasters such as flooding and fires continued to happen in Jakarta because people had a mind-set of responding to rather than preventing disasters.

'€œThe BPBD is currently promoting a shift in mind-sets, so that all elements in society work to prevent or minimize disasters that may happen,'€ he said, adding that 60 percent of BPBD programs in 2014 would be directed at disaster prevention.

One of the programs, for example, was the establishment of a forum last week for disaster-risk reduction and adaptation to climate change, with government institutions, business entities and NGOs as its members.

The forum is aimed at accommodating and facilitating communication and coordination among its members. The forum is also a means for its members to share information and data, and to learn about disaster-risk reduction.

Care for Ciliwung Community (Mat Peci) head Usman Firdaus said that all residents of the city could contribute in small ways, such as by refraining from throwing garbage into rivers to reduce the risk of flooding.

He said that to prevent residents from throwing garbage into rivers, for example, his organization had encouraged citizens to engage in urban farming in vacant areas along the banks of the Ciliwung River.

'€œSuch farming can discourage local residents from throwing garbage into rivers,'€ he said.

He said government institutions, business entities and NGOs should use cultural and artistic approaches to encourage citizens to get more involved in reducing disaster risks.

'€œBased on the experiences of Mat Peci, the traditional Jakarta play Lenong Betawi is an effective method of making people aware of the danger of disasters and to prevent them from happening,'€ he said.

Another possible approach was inviting residents to process garbage into economically valuable products, he said.

'€œSuch approaches can make people learn about disaster-risk reduction,'€ Usman said. (ask)