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efense Minister Ryamizard Ryacudu has hinted that the government would allocate a fraction of the budget for procurement of weapons for the Indonesian Military (TNI) to procure heavy equipment used in disaster mitigation efforts in the country.

'€œThe evacuation of victims from the landslide in Banjarnegara, for instance, took a long time as the villagers were using hoes to dig up survivors and victims. We need more tractors and heavy equipment to do a swift and proper evacuation,'€ Ryamizard said during a gathering with 516 middle-ranking military officers from the Udayana regional military command (Kodam) in Denpasar, Bali on Friday.

In the massive landslide in Jemblung hamlet, Banjarnegara regency, Central Java on Dec. 12, over 100 people were buried when a hill collapsed. Many victims were found on a village road under around 100 meters of thick mud.

According to Ryamizard, parts of the country are very vulnerable to natural disaster and the military must be prepared to join efforts to handle emergency situations.

He said that although the country had experienced many major disasters, including the tsunami in Aceh in 2004, which killed thousands of people, there had been no mechanism in place for helping survivors of such disasters.

The TNI is ready to fill in the gap, Ryamizard said.

'€œThe Indonesian military needs more tractors and other heavy equipment to help with the evacuation of victims when disaster strikes,'€ Ryamizard said.

He said that using the defense budget to procure heavy equipment would be more important than purchasing sophisticated weapons systems that nobody knew how to operate.

'€œInstead of buying ten jet fighters, the government could buy nine jets and the money for one jet could be spent to buy heavy equipment for the military in case of a major disaster,'€ he said.

Ryamizard said he is still working out details on the procurement of the heavy equipment.

'€œI will discuss the plan further with relevant agencies. I will tell them that natural disaster can also be deemed as a [security] threat,'€ Ryamizard said.

The country'€™s military is now working to strengthen its minimum essential force (MEF).

TNI commander Gen. Moeldoko said recently that Indonesia now met 38 percent of the MEF, and aimed to reach 100 percent by 2019.

The country had allocated Rp 100 trillion to meet the MEF.

Besides heavy equipment, the defense ministry is planning to cooperate with other institutions in creating clean water technology for disasters. The technology is very important to help survivors in a post-disaster situation.

'€œWe are working to provide potable water for survivors in disasters,'€ Ryamizard said.

The National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) has warned members of the public of more natural disasters in the coming months.

'€œJanuary will be the peak of the disaster season. More than 90 percent of potential hazards in the country are hydrometeorological ones such as floods, landslides, whirlwinds, droughts, extreme weather and forest and wild fires,'€ the BNPB'€™s Data and Information Center head, Sutopo Purwo Nugroho, said earlier.