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Change of focus sought in disaster management
The effective and efficient handling of disasters requires a change in perspective on management and mitigation efforts, and the focus should be on preventing disasters or at least alleviating their impacts rather than on costly post-disaster measures
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span>The effective and efficient handling of disasters requires a change in perspective on management and mitigation efforts, and the focus should be on preventing disasters or at least alleviating their impacts rather than on costly post-disaster measures.
National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) chairman Lt. Gen. Doni Monardo said significant changes were needed in disaster management and mitigation and that it was high time to focus on efforts that contributed to the prevention of catastrophes.
“Natural disasters like volcano tectonic earthquakes are not preventable, and there is no cure to fix their impacts. What we can do is to take mitigating measures that will help prevent or reduce the impacts of the disasters,” Doni told The Jakarta Post in a recent interview.
Quoting testimony from survivors of tsunamis, which are frequently triggered by earthquakes, he noted the importance of planting trees at seashores, as they would not only act as a natural barrier against high waves, but in many cases they had been used by people as strong, natural poles for them to grip so as not to be carried away with the strong tide.
In view of lessons learned from past volcanic earthquakes, Doni stressed the need for people to stay away from volcanoes and not build houses within the danger zone or along the path of the lava flow.
Speaking about floods, landslides and forest fires, most of which are triggered by people’s failure to preserve the environment, the BNPB chief underlined the importance of reforestation and replanting, as those measures would contribute a lot to preventing or at least reducing the consequences of disasters caused by human activities.
“A public figure in Bengkulu, which was recently hit by flooding, noted the lack of catchment areas in the flood-affected locations because of mining activities and serious deforestation,” Doni said.
The former head of Gadjah Mada University’s (UGM) disaster studies center, Djati Mardiatno, concurred and highlighted the importance of preventing disasters rather than allocating all the resources to post-disaster measures.
“The principle of disaster prevention is similar to the widely recognized motto in the medical community that preventing an illness is better than curing it,” Djati told the Post in a telephone interview over the weekend.
“[The necessary] investment in measures to prevent disasters or reduce their impacts will be much smaller than the budget funds needed for post-disaster recovery and rehabilitation activities,” he said.
To underline that point, Djati cited the huge funds needed for restoring the Citarum River, which has been plagued with problems of pollution and sedimentation. Media have reported that at least Rp 3.5 trillion (US$242 million) is needed to restore only the upstream part of the river. The Citarum is one of the main sources of electricity in Java and has contributed significantly to the livelihoods of people living in West Java, particularly those living near the river.
As for the quality of disaster management and mitigation, Djati noted the need for increased capacity of BNPB officials in the regions.
“At the national level, the BNPB human resources are experienced and relatively good, but the personnel at some local BNPB offices needs to be improved to be on par with the rest of the BPBDs [regional disaster mitigation agencies],” he said.
