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2.Basedont hekeywords,pl
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where,which,why,howlong,howfar,howmany,how
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Nat
uraldi
sast
ersi
nIndonesi
a:St
rengt
heni
ngdi
sast
erpr
epar
edness

Aut
hors:I
reneKunt
jor
oandSofi
ahJamil,
RSI
SCent
ref
orNon-
Tradi
ti
onal
Secur
it
y
St
udies,
NanyangTechnol
ogi
calUni
ver
sit
y

Ther ecentback-to-backdi saster

sinI ndonesiahi ghl
ightt
hediffi
cult
iesi
nensur i
ng
effecti
veear l
ywar ningsy stems,andul ti
mat elythelackoflocalcapaci
tytorespond
tochal l
engeswhennat i
onal assi
stancei sstretchedthinl
yacrosssimult
aneous
disasters.Withsuchf requencyi ndisasters,i
tr ai
sesquestionsoftheextenttowhich
l
essonsf rom pr
eviousdi sasterswer elearntandt heprogressofIndonesia
sdisast
er
preparedness.

Multi
pleear
thquakesandat sunamiattheMent awaiIslandsandv olcani
cerupti
ons
atMountMer apioccurr
edwi t
hin24hourslastweek.Suchdi saster
sar enotnewand
haveoccurr
edlargelyi
nt hesamear eas.Sumat r
ahasexper iencedsev er
al
ear
thquakesrecentl
yincludingoneinPadangl astyearandt heonet hatcausedthe
devast
ati
ng2004t sunami inAceh,andMountMer apilasteruptedin2006.

The2010Asi aPacif
icDi
sast
erRepor
trel
easedlastweeksaysthatpeoplei
nthe
AsiaPacif
icregi
onarefourt
imesmoreli
kel
ytobeaf f
ectedbynatur
alcatast
rophes
thanthoseinAfr
icaand25ti
mesmor eli
kel
ythanthoseinNort
hAmer icaorEurope.
TheUNr epor
testi
matedthatov er18mi l
lionpeoplewereaff ectedbynat ur
al
disaster
sinIndonesi
afrom 1980t o2009.Thesamer eportranksI ndonesiafour
th
highestamongstAsiaPacifi
ccount ri
esthathav ebeenhitbynat ural
disast
ersfr
om
1980t o2009.The2009Gl obalAssessmentRepor tonDisast erRiskReducti
onalso
rankedIndonesiahi
ghlyonitsl
ev elofhumanexposur etodi sastersr anki
ng3out
of153f oreart
hquakesand1outof265f ortsunamis.

Itisapparentthatdespi t
etheinitiati
vesandmeasur est akentoaddr ess
vulnerabi
lit
iestonaturaldisasters,l
ocalcapacit
yandr esili
encear esti
lll
acking.
Despi t
eIndonesiasnotabledev elopmentofitsdisastermanagementi nit
iat
ives
sincethe2004t sunami ,recentdisastersshowedt hatf urtherimprovement sare
needed.Thi sisespeciall
ysoi nthear easofearl
ywar ni ngsy stems,disaster
-ri
sk
awar enessandl ocaldisastermanagementcapaci t
ies.TheI ndonesianTsunami
EarlyWar ni
ngSy stem,impl ement edin2005,i
sst i
lli
nt heear l
ystagesof
dev el
opment .

Specifi
callyfort heMent awai Isl
ands, t
her eisadear thofsui t
ablei nf
rast r
uctureand
fundst osuppor tef fici
entear lywarni ngsy stem f acili
ti
es.Onshor eear l
ywar ning
system det ectorshav eyettobef i
xedduet ounsui t
abl ephy sicalterr
ain.Wi t
hnopor t
anddeepseacondi tionssurr oundingt hei sland, const ructi
ngdet ectorswoul dbe
costly
.Thear eahashadt orelyonof f-
shor ef l
oat i
ngdet ectors.These, howev er,
have
beenexper iencingt echni calproblemsf ort hepastt hreey earsandof t
enbeenpr one
totheftorv andal ism.Ev enthenear estt sunami buoyi satTel ukBay ur12hour s
awaybyboatf rom t heMent awai I
slands.Mor eimpor tantly,i
tappear sthatnost eps
hadbeent akent oadv isevil
l
ager st of l
eet ot hehi ll
sint heev entofanear thquake,
i
nsteadofwai t
ingf orat sunami al
er twhi chnev ercame.Al so, t
hecoast al
communi ti
esl i
vei nar easwher eelect r
icit
y ,mobi lephonesandot her
tel
ecommuni cationmeansar elimited.Hav ingv astcoast l
inesalsobecomesa
constraintforIndonesi atodepl oysir ensi nv ul
ner ablear eas.

Additional l
y ,
itisdiffi
cul ttocoor di
nateev acuat i
oni ninstanceswher eearlywarni
ng
systemsar ewor kingef fect i
vely
.Inoneoft hecommuni t
iesar oundMountMer api
evacuat ionnot iceswer egi venasearlyasMondayj ustbefor etheer
uptionbut
therewasasenseofi nertiaamongstl ocalst oleav ethei
rhouses.Theywer e
concer nedaboutt heirpr operti
esandl i
v estockt hattheywoul dhav etoleavebehi
nd.
Thishi ghlightst heimpor tanceofheedi ngev acuati
onadv i
ce.Ther ei
saneedt oalt
er
publicawar enessf r
om per ceivi
ngnatural disastersasunmi t
igatedand
unpredi ctableev entst oi nternal
isi
ngdisast err i
skreduction(DRR)andr esponsesas
partoft hei rl
ives.

Inbui ldinglocalresi
li
encet odisasters,ther oleoflocal governmentiscrucial
.
Indonesi anlawrequiresprovincialanddi str
ictadmi ni
strati
onst obeatt heforefr
ont
ofdi sast ermanagement .WhiletheNat ional Agencyf orDisasterManagement
(BNPB)andmi l
it
arypr ovi
debackupwhenr equested.Howev er,nat
ional
ly-
formulated
policieshav enotcreatedsystemi cchangesatl ocal l
evels.Regionalagenciesfor
disast ermanagementhav etobesetupi nal l32provincesbutt heyareonly
establ ishedin18pr ovincessof ar.Inaddi t
ion, t
hereseemst obeast rongsenseof
dependencyont henat ionalgovernmentt opr ovi
dethenecessar ysupport
,wher ethe
l
ocal gov ernmentlackscapaci tyandr esour ces.
Appar entl
ymanylocalgov ernmentsar ereluct
anttouset heirbudgetsfordisaster
management .Thi
smaypl aceast r
ainonr esourcesatthenat i
onallevel
,especiall
y
forresponseswhenmul t
ipledisastersindiff
erentpr
ovincesoccursi multaneously
asseeni n2009andl astweek.Coor di
nati
onal sobecomeshar derwhent heareais
remot e.Forexample,r
eli
efassi st
ancet oMent awaii
tselftakeshalfaday
sboatr i
de
from theportofPadang.

Local communi tiesneedt obecomel essdependentont henat i

onal gover
nmentfor
assistance.Local government salsoneedt oallocatelargerporti
onoft hei
rbudget
fordisastermanagement .Buil
dinglocalcapacityisvit
al andtherebyensuresmore
effecti
ver esponsest odisasters.I
ndonesiasri
skt omul ti-
hazarddisaster
sis
i
ncr easing.Therefore,I
ndonesi amusti mprovei t
scapaci tyforr
ecov ery
,
rehabili
tati
onandr econstruct
ionfrom currentdisastersinordertomi ti
gatefut
ure
ri
sks.

TakenFrom:http:
//www.
eastasiaforum.
org/
2010/11/
17/
nat
ural
-di
sast
ers-
in-
i
ndonesia-
str
engtheni
ng-
disaster
-
prepar
edness/?
gcli
d=CNmHi _Py1tECFQ9wvAodNDUHPg