Days of Disaster Alertness

KOMPAS/ISMAIL ZAKARIA

Batang Kalu Bridge in Korong Pasar Pasar, Nagari Kayu Tanam, Padang Pariaman regency, West Sumatra, is in ruins after heavy rain caused Batang Ulakan River to overflow on Monday (10/12/2018), cutting off the main connection between Padang and Bukittinggi. Traffic has been rerouted to the Padang-Sicincin-Malalak-Bukittinggi route. While waiting for the bridge to be repaired, which is expected to take six months, the Padang National Road Implementation Center III will build a temporary bridge made of a high-quality lightweight steel frame.

Disasters still continue to hit the country. Floods and landslides lurk these days; earlier in the year, earthquakes struck several regions.

We remain concerned about the tolls, from the psychological to the material, and fatalities. We also hope that the losses from disasters can be minimized, even though disasters always strike and humankind is not ready to face them.

In line with advancements in knowledge, we are now able to predict natural phenomena and mitigate the risks of many types of disasters, so we should be better prepared when a disaster strikes. Moreover, because of its geography, Indonesia is undeniably a disaster-prone country.

With our location on the Ring of Fire, where the earth\'s plates meet, and with its islands running along the equatorial belt, all kinds of disasters indeed happen in the country. Volcanic eruptions, earthquakes, tsunamis, floods, landslides and typhoons are part of daily life. On the other hand, its geography has blessed Indonesia with fertile lands.

The condition is further exacerbated by the global threat of the greenhouse effect, which can cause changes in climate patterns and extreme weather, so that it seems that disasters recur more frequently – and raises questions as to how far mitigation efforts have progressed.

Learning from the widespread tolls of the 2004 Aceh tsunami, for example, Indonesia has installed a more accurate tsunami early warning system. Data from the Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency shows that, over its 10-year operation, this system has issued 20 tsunami early warnings.

The Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry’s Geology Agency has also mapped landslide hazard areas, complete with a vulnerability scale. Combining these disaster hazard maps, the rain forecast and the geological landscape produces maps on soil movement potential that are renewed every month. These maps are sent to all relevant provinces. Measuring volcanic and earthquake activities has also developed further, even though the agency has not been able to predict when an earthquake might occur or a volcano might erupt.

All these efforts must be complemented by public dissemination efforts that are accompanied by strict regulatory implementation. In 2017, when a landslide occurred in Banaran village of Ponorogo, East Java, the local government was already aware of its geological characteristics, including the high landslide hazard. The local residents had been evacuated. However, casualties still emerged because these farmers had to tend to their ginger farms, the community’s source of livelihood.

Likewise, the areas in Aceh that were hit by the 2004 tsunami and should not be resettled are again filled with residential homes. A regulation must thus be created to prevent residential developments in the areas in Palu that collapsed due to soil liquefaction. Many measures can ben taken as regards disaster prevention, as long as the local administrations remain vigilant and continuously disseminate information to the public.

These post-disaster efforts must be followed up with appropriate measures, and quickly. Disasters cannot be prevented, so it is we who must change.