President Jokowi Urges BNPB Heads to Reduce Flood Victims

Head of the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) Doni Monardo after attending an internal meeting at Presidential Office, Jakarta, Friday (3/1). (Photo: Jay / PR)

In a bid to minimize the number of flood victims, President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo has instructed Head of the National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB) Doni Monardo to cooperate with relevant parties due to extreme weather which predicted to continue until February.

“The President has urged all regional leaders to join hands with Central Government which will be assisted by the Indonesian National Defense Forces (TNI) and the Indonesian National Police (Polri) as well as volunteers to make efforts on flood mitigation and prevention,” Head of the BNPB Doni Monardo said during an internal meeting at the Presidential Office, Jakarta, Friday (3/1).

Doni went on to say that the President also asked for evacuation measures to the people who live along the watershed (DAS) and flash floods prone areas.

“We hope that all leaders in the area can warn the people to evacuate the area which will be subject to flooding,” Doni said, adding that the high rainfall might cause the water to flow swiftly to the locations that are relatively low.

“We also should be wary of places that used to be water reservoirs and residential areas with low-lying areas,” Doni added.

According to him, the President’s directive aims to reactivate Regional Disaster Management Agency (BPBD) in provincial, regencies/municipal levels, especially the Special Capital Region of Jakarta.

In the meantime, the BNPB has proposed to the President related to the Presidential Instruction on regional obligations to draw up contingency plans, considering that the country experienced disasters almost every year.

He further said that the dry season caused forest fires and drought land, while the rainy season caused floods, flash floods, and landslides. The disasters that occurred also caused casualties as well as property losses.

“The Presidential Instruction later is expected to be able to drive regional leaders to take several measures, including preparedness, mitigation, and vigilance,” Doni said.

According to him, there should be a determination of emergency status from officials in the area, because the Central Government would easily provide assistance and budget support to the regions that have set their status.

For the record, the floods that hit Greater Jakarta last January 1 has caused a number of fatalities.

“As many as 43 of our brothers and sisters have died in the Special Capital Region of Jakarta, West Java Province, and Banten. The last data we received was from Lebak, Banten, with the victims reached 8 people,” Doni added. (FID / JAY / ES)

Translated by: Syarifah Aisyah
Reviewed by: Yuyu Mulyani