RI 'not ready' for next disaster

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Indonesia is far from prepared to cope with natural disasters and regional administrations must take responsibility for their communities, particularly in areas prone to tsunamis and earthquakes, experts said.

A three-day seminar about preparing for disasters concluded Wednesday that Cilacap in Central Java was the only region vaguely ready to handle its next natural disaster.

Disaster coordinator with the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI) Jan Sopaheluwakan said LIPI had conducted surveys and studies in five regions, including Serang in Banten, Cilacap in Central Java, Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam province, Bengkulu province and Padang Pariaman in West Sumatra.

He said the 2007 study found all areas were prone to tsunamis and earthquakes but "most of them are not prepared to face these disasters".

Indonesia has experienced seven tsunamis since 1969, with the 2004 tsunami killing some 250,000 people.

Meteorology and Geophysics Agency (BMG) chairwomen Sri Woro Budiharti Haryono said some regions, especially those prone to disasters, did not have the proper equipment to detect tsunamis.

"Only eight regions have receivers to detect earthquakes that could lead to tsunamis," Sri said.

"But they can't determine if a tsunami would occur or not."

She said ideally, regions along sea shores should have at least one receiver.

In April, the first domestically produced tsunami-early-warning-buoy was placed in the Sunda Strait, which separates Banten and Lampung provinces.

The buoy should inform the public of a potential tsunami five to 10 minutes after the wave is detected under the sea, said the program coordinator Ridwan Djamaluddin.

"But it's still in the trial process and it doesn't operate well yet," he said.

The country has four buoys, three of which were made by Germany, he said.

"But they're all still in the trial process.

"We want 22 buoys to be built and fully operational by the end of 2008."

Jan said LIPI's study found only Cilacap in West Java was almost ready to face its next natural disaster.

But he said the lack of preparedness in most regions was due to the way local administrations handled disaster planning.

"They still think that disaster relief efforts are the central government's job," Jan said.

"They also still act responsively, not preventively."

The surveys were conducted across households, school community and local administration levels.

Most families said they understood published disaster instructions, but were not willing to increase the level of preparedness, the study found.

Most households also did not have access to early disaster warnings.

At schools, weak policy-making, poor contingency plans and a lack of human resources contributed to poor disaster planning.

A limited capability to mobilize officers at the regional level also hampered disaster preparations that should involve all members of society, Jan said.

The preparedness program has been conducted since early 2005 and LIPI has committed to assist each region for three years.