However, despite the high risk of such disasters, the country’s infrastructure development is not supported by a well-prepared mitigation plan, Khrisna Suryanto Pribadi, a professor at the Bandung Institute of Technology (ITB), said during the 10th National Conference of Road Engineering in Jakarta on Nov. 5.

  “We currently focus on post-disaster reconstruction and emergency response after a disaster instead of developing a mitigation plan for infrastructure development,” he said.

Khrisna said it was time for Indonesia to step up its game in disaster mitigation measures in infrastructure as many public facilities such as roads and railway tracks were built in disaster-prone areas.   

“If we look deeper, many sections of the national roads and toll roads in Java have been built on faults. There are also airports that are at risk of tsunamis. Moreover, the railway line for the Jakarta-Bandung high-speed train in West Java also passes faults,” he said.

For instance, Khrisna said, at least five sections of national roads are located in disaster-prone areas in West Sumatra, such as the Padang Sawah-Manggopoh, the Manggopoh-Pariaman, and the Lubuk Selasih-Batas Kota Padang road sections. The five road sections were extensively damaged during the 2009 West Sumatra earthquake. Meanwhile, two of the five roads also collapsed in landslides in 2016 and 2018.   

At least 16 airports are also at risk of tsunamis as they are located close to the shoreline. Minangkabau International Airport in Padang, for instance, is only 500 meters from the coastline, while Frans Kaisepo Airport in Biak is 100 meters from the shoreline and Ngurah Rai International Airport in Bali is right on the coast.   

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