President Jokowi Encourages Regional Gov’t to Set Disaster Management Budget

President Jokowi delivers press statement after opening the 2023 National Coordination Meeting on Disaster Management, Thursday (03/02), at JIExpo, Kemayoran, Jakarta. (Photo by: BPMI of Presidential Secretariat/Rusman)

President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo ordered regional heads to fully understand disaster risk in their respective regions and prepare a budget for disaster management.

The statement was made by the President during the 2023 National Coordination Meeting on Disaster Management, Thursday (03/02), at JIExpo, Kemayoran, Jakarta.

“Regions with high risk of natural disasters should allocate a budget (for disaster management),” he said.

He went on to say that the Regional Disaster Mitigation Agency (BPBD) should calculate the budget needed for disaster management based on geographical features and spatial distribution pattern of potential disasters of each region.

“How much will the budget be? I think each region can determine it. For instance, we know which regions with active volcanic eruption. If the region doesn’t have active volcano, there’s no need to prepare a budget for it. We also know regions that are vulnerable to earthquake, and so on,” he said adding that the Government needs to be alert to climate change which potentially can increase the frequency of disasters.

According to the President, Indonesia is in the top three countries that are the most prone to disasters. Indonesia’s natural disaster frequency rose 81 percent, from 1,945 in 2010 to 3,544 in 2022, dominated by floods, volcanic eruptions, landslides, and earthquakes.

“Therefore, be vigilant and alert are the keys to pre-disaster management, emergency response, and post-disaster management. Everything must be prepared and managed carefully,” he said. (MAY/UN)(RAS/ MMB)