President Jokowi Orders Regional Leaders to Evaluate Natural Disaster Control

President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo accompanied by a number of ministers, leads a Limited Meeting on the
Prevention and Handling of Flooding Impacts, at the Merdeka Palace, Jakarta, Wednesday (8/1). (Photo: Ibrahim / PR)

In a bid to evaluate natural disaster control following massive flooding that hit several provinces including capital Jakarta, President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo held a limited meeting to discuss measures to prevent more floods and to tackle the impacts with regional heads whose areas were affected by the floods.

“The Flood Control Master Plan has actually prepared, yet it needs a comprehensive detail for the implementation, including cooperation between central Government and regional governments,” the President said.

According to the President, reforestation projects, such as forest and land rehabilitation should be carried out immediately.

“We can make use of rainwater for tree planting. I ask for tree seeds to be prepared quickly from Ministry of the Environment and Forestry so that the planting of the seeds can be carried out by January and February,” he said.

The Government, he added, should also prepare plant seeds that can prevent landslides and obstruct flash floods.

“I think we should have akar wangi plant seeds (vetiver roots) as many as possible. We can plant them in Lebak and Bogor regencies,” the President said.

In addition, the President said he would order Ministry of Public Works and Public Housing to accelerate the construction of Sukamahi Dam and Ciawi Dam.

For the record, the construction progress of the two dams has reached 47%, while the land acquisition progress has also reached 95%.

“The construction should be completed immediately,” he said.

President Jokowi has previously said that after four days of inspecting the handling of floods and landslides on the ground in Banten and capital Jakarta, he considered that central Governments and local governments need to collaborate in terms of handling floods, landslides, and other natural disasters that occurred in various regions across the country.

“All I can say is that I have inspected the focus of emergency response handling. The evacuation process and the logistics distribution for refugees on the ground also went well,” the President said, adding that on Tuesday (7/1) the handling of landslides in Sukajaya, Bogor regency also run well.

President Jokowi further said that several roads connecting several villages due to flooding has not been restored yet. Therefore, the President has ordered his Cabinet to immediately address measures to handle road disruptions.

Regarding logistics availability for disaster relief, the President continued, the Government has fulfilled them on the ground, adding that health posts that provide health services were also available.

“There is also a joint effort of two government agencies between the Agency for Assessment and Application of Technology (BPPT) and the Indonesian Military (TNI) in using Weather Modification Technology (TMC) to reduce rain intensity over flood-stricken areas,” the President added.

President Jokowi also called for reconstructions of houses affected by landslides and floods, especially in Banten and in West Java provinces.

“The number of houses affected has been identified and it needs to be verified so that the reconstruction can be conducted immediately by the Central Government,” he said.

The President also called for relocation of houses affected by landslides in Bogor regency.

“I think we should see the data of land position from state-owned plantation holding company PT Perkebunan Nusantara. The relocation should not be too far from the existing location,” the President said, while asking West Java Governor to complete the data immediately.

The President has also ordered Banten Governor and Lebak Regent to make a decision on the relocation of residents affected by flash floods, especially in several areas where housing reconstruction cannot be carried out at all.

Translated by: Syarifah Aisyah
Reviewed by: M. Ersan Pamungkas