President Jokowi Appreciates BNPB Readiness in Disaster Mitigation

President Jokowi delivers his remarks to the participants of the 2020 National Disaster Management Coordination Meeting in Bogor, West Java, Tuesday (4/2) (Photo by: PR/Anggun)

President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo has expressed gratitude to the National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB) for always being alert and being the first to rescue disaster victims.

“However, even though we already helped the victims, they (the victims) had suffered because of the disaster,” President Jokowi said in his remarks to the participants of the 2020 National Disaster Management Coordination Meeting in Bogor, West Java, Tuesday (4/2).

According to the President, natural disasters not only occurred in Indonesia but also occurred in other countries as the climate changes caused by humans. The rise of disasters has also increased the number of fatalities and socio-economic losses, he added.

“If we reflect on our experience, there are actually many recurring disasters. We must take precaution of it,” President Jokowi said.

The President went on to say that the dry season was just started and he received report that hotspots had been spotted in Aceh and Riau and he ordered it to be extinguished immediately.

“A big country as Australia is currently overwhelmed by forest fires that reached six million hectares. They lost 500 million animals,” President Jokowi said, adding that the disaster will not just affect the economy.

The President also stated that disaster prevention either in the rainy or dry season by rehabilitating the environment is equally important as the infrastructure development. (RSF/GUN/EN)

Translated by: Galuh Wicaksono
Reviewed by: Yuyu Mulyani