President Jokowi: Disaster Response Training is Important

President Jokowi takes photo after distributing aid in West Nusa Tenggara Province, Thursday (18/10). (Photo: BPMI)

As a country located in the ring of fire, Indonesia has experienced a number of natural disasters, including earthquake and tsunami in Aceh, earthquake in Padang, earthquake in Yogyakarta, earthquake in West Nusa Tenggara, and the recently-occurred earthquake in Palu and Donggala, President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo said.

President Jokowi reminded the importance of public awareness to disasters when delivering remarks in front of disaster affected students at Zainuddin Abdul Madjid International Airport, Central Lombok Regency, on Thursday (18/10).

The President said that the spatial layout and urban planning at disaster-prone points needs to be concerned carefully. According to the President, if a location has been marked as a disaster-prone area, then people is prohibited to construct a building on the area.

“If an area has been marked with red-colored locations, the people must move their houses to another location, otherwise they must guarantee their buildings are quake-resistant,” the President said.

Meanwhile, President Jokowi continued, disaster drill also needs to be done regularly to increase peoples’ awareness once disaster happens. “We need to know what should we do and where to go in case of disaster,” the President added.

Regarding quake-resistant houses, the Government has encouraged residents to make Healthy Modest Instantaneous House (RISHA).

“Thus, no matter what material you use to build the house, as long as it uses RISHA structure, it will be guaranteed quake-resistant,” the President concluded. (BPMI / EN) (STU/YM/Naster)