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Improve insurance against disasters
The deaths and devastation from the powerful earthquake in Central Sulawesi in September is a rude awakening of how vulnerable Indonesia is to natural disasters.
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Desperate times: Earthquake victims loot a warehouse in Mamboro in North Palu, Central Sulawesi, on Monday. Residents from North Palu to Donggala’s western coast have been looting warehouses and stores to obtain basic commodities as the humanitarian assistance they are in dire need of has yet to arrive to disaster-struck areas. (Antara/Muhammad Adimadja)
T
he deaths and devastation from the powerful earthquake in Central Sulawesi in September is a rude awakening of how vulnerable Indonesia is to natural disasters. The strong tremors, measuring 7.4 on the Richter scale, and the ensuing tsunami and soil liquefaction, killed more than 1,400 people, injured 2,500 others and displaced more than 125,000.
Occurring at a time when the nation is gearing up for the 2019 general election, the tragedy seems like a blip in the current political climate, with a narrative that is separate from the current political discourse.
It does not have to be like this. Those campaigning for office at national and regional levels could use the South Sulawesi tragedy to raise community and national awareness of the need for better mitigation measures and responses.
Whether contesting the presidential or legislative election, they could campaign for a broader agenda on disaster preparedness. They can provide the leadership to raise greater awareness at community and national levels, which, as the Central Sulawesi quake shows, is woefully lacking.
