Who's in charge here? (An Overview on Disaster Management)

The past few days had been such a rollercoaster ride, to say the very least. When trying situations like these happen, only we can see how much theory is being put into practical.

So far, there has been hundreds of thousands of people being evacuated to a safer place, not forgetting the countless scarred hearts of the family members of the departed. In trying time like these, a systematic approach towards disaster is utterly important. Merapi’s latest eruption has pushed the death toll to 156 and the number could’ve been higher if some measures were not taken earlier. Which brings to my title of discussion.

Disaster management in Indonesia

The word ‘disaster’ is no foreign matter for Indonesia. Natural disaster is a common phenomena in Indonesia which has caused loss of lives and countless destruction to the environment. Its very ‘unstrategic’ location has subjected it to high seismic activities. Indonesia has more than 500 volcanoes, 128 of which are active volcanoes occupying the zones of Sunda, Banda, Halmahera and Minahasa. The country is susceptible from drought to floods, and tsunami risks to earthquakes. 

The particular geographical and geological characteristics of the country place it among the most vulnerable one to natural disasters. Indonesia is placed on the third place by the Asian Development Bank, in its observation of 13 Asian countries most susceptible to natural disasters for the period of 1964 - 1986, after the Phillipines and India in terms of severity of the disasters and their cumulative frequencies of occurrence.

In conjunction to these very unfortunate circumstances, the Indonesian government has decided to act through its many policies regarding the importance of managing disasters that happen to their beloved country:

It started of in 1966 when the Indonesian government established Advisory Board for Natural Disaster Management where its activities were focused on the disaster victims. As a measure to increase efficiency and coordination in managing disaster, the Indonesian government developed a coordinating body for natural disaster management named Badan Koordinasi Nasional Penanggulangan Bencana Alam (BAKORNAS PBA) in 1979. The organization has undergone a lot of changes over the years but he most recent organization structure is developed in 2001.

When a disaster strikes, Bakornas PBP would convene an initial meeting and appoint a certain ministry to be the leading sector at the national level to support the relief responses by the local government. The prevailing guidelines on the tasks distribution among members of Bakornas PBP are the ones stipulated by Decree of Secretary of Bakornas PBP No 2 Year 2001 issued on 30 March 2001.

Home Affairs and Regional Autonomy Minister

Manages activities of regional development for empowering and protecting the population and community based activities on disaster and IDP management.

Health and Social Affairs Minister

Manages mitigation, preparedness, rescue, and rehabilitation activities on health and medical emergencies and assistance for medicines, paramedics, food and clothing for disaster victims and IDPs

Settlement and Regional Infrastructures Minister

Manages the activities and mobilisation of temporary shelters, water and sanitation, resettlement of disaster victims and IDPs and rehabilitation of damaged infrastructures

Transport Minister

Manages pre,during, and post-disaster activities of detection and information of weather, meteorology, search and rescue6, assistance for transport and telecommunication

Energy and Mineral Resources Minister

Manages mitigative measures on geological disasters

Manpower and Transmigration Minister

Manages the mobilisation and movement of disaster victims who need resettlement

Finance Minister

Financially supports the plan and implementation of Bakornas PBP and related agencies in

a coordinated manner

Forestry Minister

Manages mitigative and operational measures for forest and land fires

Environment State Minister

Manages rehabilitation of damaged environment, early warning, and advocacy in disaster Prevention

Armed Forces Chief

Manages assistance of resources and facilities from military

Chief of Police

Manages security and law enforcement

Governor of Affected Province

Heads the Satkorlak PBP to coordinate and synchronise the assistance into his/her province

Secretary of Bakornas PBP

Heads the Secretariat of Bakornas PBP to support and implement the dispositions of the Bakornas PBP and coordinates integrated measures for disaster and IDP management.

As you can see, in the making of an effective systematic organization to handle natural disaster, distribution of work roles needs to be done efficiently. Now we know what's the makeup of an organization that handles disaster management programs and policies. Maybe in my later posts we will discuss further on their policies and also strategies in ensuring smooth operating procedures (action plans).

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References:

1. www.adpc.com (Asian disaster preparedness centre)

2. msnbc.com (Merapi eruption 2010 news)