One In Three Indonesia's 73,000 Villages Prone To Natural Disaster

Bernama, January 04, 2011

JAKARTA, Jan 4 (Bernama) -- One in three of Indonesia's 73,000 villages is prone to natural disasters, Antara news agency quoted National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB) Chief Syamsul Maarif as saying on Tuesday.

"We predict that 184 districts and cities in Indonesia can be hit by an earthquake," he said here on Tuesday at a meeting at the office of the Coordinating Minister for People's Welfare in Jakarta.

While 150 cities are facing the risk of being engulfed by tsunami, 78 eight cities and districts can be impacted by a volcanic eruption, 176 districts are prone to flooding and 154 cities to landslides.

In 2011, he said the extreme weather with the potential of causing floods , flash floods and landslides was predicted to reach its peak in the January-March period.

In order to reduce casualties and material losses due to natural disasters, he said, BNPB had started to map all disaster-prone areas in Indonesia.

The map was needed to support local governments` efforts to draw up maps of the vulnerable areas. These areas must not be used for housing development or construction of public places.

He said BNPB would also call for alertness of government officials and local people.

Up till now, he said, from the total of 497 districts and cities in Indonesia, 306 had established a Regional Disaster Management Agency .

"Our target is to have each region set up its own disaster management agency by 2012," Syamsul said.

For this year, BNPB received Rp795 billion from the National Budget n (APBN) and Rp17 billion from grants to conduct its activities.

-- BERNAMA

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Report of landslides and sinking lands in Indonesia per December 2010:

• 30 December 2010: Central Java. Hill in Purbalingga Collapsed.

• 29 December 2010: Central Java. Landslides in Banyumas, Banjarnegara, and Purbalingga.

• 29 December 2010: Central Java. Cave Maria, Banyu Urip Village of Tuntang, Semarang, collapsed.
• 29 December 2010: Central Java. A Dike of 32 metre long in Bedana Village of Kalibening, Banjarnegara collapsed.
• 29 December 2010: Jakarta. Pengapuran Raya Street, Tambora, West Jakarta was broken. The broken concrete slabs were due to heavy traffic, it was thought.
• 28 December 2010: Central Java. Cliff collapsed (50 m high) onto Main Northern Road(Pantura) from B....
• 28 December 2010: Central Java. Bumiayu-Brebes Ring Road was closed due to partly collapsed bridge (sinkhole underneath).
• 27 December 2010: West Java. The concrete body joining Balubur St. and Pasteur St. on Pasopati Flyover, Bandung, shifted, leaving a 10-cm gap. Rapid sinking has been happening all over Bandung.
• 23 December 2010: East Java. The LAPINDO hot mud dike (11 metres high) burst again on 23 Decembe... (as observed by Indonesian scientists). The water of 50 cm high flooded a nearby village and a 200-m-long road. Some houses sank 2.5 metres deep.
• 22 December 2010: Central Java. Landslides in Brebes Injures Six and Destroys a house (Media Indonesia). Location: Dukuh Kosambi, Jipang Village of Bantarkuwung, Brebes, Central Java.
• 22 December 2010: Bali. Floods and landslides assault Northern Bali.
• 21 December 2010: Sulawesi.
• 20 December 2010: Central Java. Landslides and Sinking Road Assault Pekalongan (Media Indonesia). Heavy Rain caused landslides in Pekalongan hills, destroying twenties houses. Six villages were isolated after the sinking of five road spots of 12 km long.
• 18 December 2010: East Java. Sinking and Rising Land in Madura Island. A land of 100 metres wide and 200 metres long in Tlokoh Village of Kokop, Bangkalan, Madura, suddenly sank 10 metres deep. This bewildered the locals.
• 17 December 2010: Borneo (Kalimantan). A truck sank into Trans-Kalimantan roadside, in Anjir Serapat.
• 14 December 2010: West Java. Mount Pancar cracked, due for big landslides. The landslides would affect the elite real estate of Sentul City (Beverly Block and Cikeruh River). A sinkhole (3 meter wide, 5 m deep) developed 716 meter above sea level (on the mountain).
• 14 December 2010: North Sumatra. Trans-Sumatra road keeps sinking. Bukit Barisan mountain ranges, in Sumatra (with some of its peaks reaching 3000 m high, running from North to South Sumatra) has also been collapsing in four spots.
• 13 December 2010: Jakarta. Petojo VIJ Street Sank 50 km long, 6 m deep (Berita Jakarta). Cracks were then found on 15 houses. The residents have been worried if their houses would sink too. Being vigilant, they've been watching any signs of further sinking. Location: Kali Siantar, Cideng-Gambir, Central Jakarta. A researcher at LIPI (Indonesian State Science Foundation) Otto S.R. Ongkosongo warned that Jakarta was prone to the same disaster as that of Petojo, considering that the same thing happened before that to Bendungan Jago Street in Kemayoran, Central Jakarta. Loss of land elevation has also threatened the progress of MRT (mass rapid transit) project in Jakarta due for completion in 2016.
• 13 December 2010: Bali. Cliff collapsed in Tampaksiring, Gianyar.
• 12 December 2010: North Sumatra. Jamin Ginting Street in Dusun 1 Sugo Village of Pancurbatu, Deliser.... Sept 2010: landslide, again, in Trans-Sumatra road (Location: Panyabungan, Kotanopan).
• 12 December 2010: Nusa Tenggara Barat. Five Hectare Land Sank 50 Meters deep (Media Indonesia). A resident's land in Dusun Corong, Pemepek Village of Pringgarata, Central Lombok, Nusa Tenggara Barat, gradually sank to 50 metres deep. The village chief was taken aback by such a natural phenomenon as there were no rivers in the vicinity.
• 12 December 2010: Bali. Four areas in Bali are Landslide zones.
• 11 Desember 2010: Yogyakarta (Central Java). Pringgodiningratan Street, Sleman Sank 6 Metres deep(Tribunnews.com, Jogja). The street sank 8 metres long. The road was thought to start sinking on 11 Dec. at 3 am. Before sinking, the road developed a hole of only 1 square metres the day before. It was speculated that the land was getting softer after heavy rains for a few days.
• 10 Desember 2010: Yogyakarta (Cenral Java). Sinking Road Created a giant sinkhole in Sleman, Yogyakarta(Media Indonesia). A large gaping hole (diameter: 10 m, depth: 10 m) was formed in Merapi Street, Sleman, Yogyakarta. The sinkhole forced the local goverment office of Sleman to close as the access road was cut off. The initial hole was only as large as an umbrella on Dec. 10, it was said, but at 9 pm on the same day, the hole was getting much wider and deeper.
• 10 Desember 2010: Central Java. Land movement assault Cintamanik Village of Bumijawa, Tegal, destroying 22 houses and 25 hectares of paddy fields in the vicinity.
• 10 December 2010: Central Java. Sinking Road in Sidorejo Village. The road connecting to other villages sank one metres deep.
• 10 December 2010: West Java. Landslide in Karangpucung and Cimanggu, Cilacap, West Java.
• 06 Desember 2010: Central Java . Sinking land destroy 7 houses in Karangpari, Bantarkawung, Brebes(Suara Merdeka). The land sank 20-50 cm deep and threatened hundreds other houses. The residents (most are farmers) are still living in such houses with fear due to poverty.
• 08 Desember 2010: West Sulawesi. High tides scoured coastal areas in Tappalang, Mamuju.
• 06 Desember 2010: East Java .Trawas Hill collapsed, cutting off road Trawas-Ngoro, Kedung, Mojokerto, East Java.
• 04 Desember 2010: West Java. Heavy traffic jam due to sinking Pajajaran Street in Bandung. The sinkhole (again, in the area) was 8 metres deep and 6 metres in diameter.
• 01 December 2010: West Java. Road to northern Garut was cut off due to sinking road in Kampung Kadulempeng, Wangunjaya Village of Banjarwangi. The road (5 metres long, 2 metres wide) sank 2.5 metres deep.