In a disaster (emergency) situation, swiftness (on disaster handling and mitigation) is highly required.Jakarta (ANTARA) - President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) has asked local governments, including the Regional Disaster Mitigation Agency (BPBD), to simplify regulations and procedures on the distribution of assistance for people affected by disasters.
At the National Coordination Meeting for Disaster Mitigation at the Jakarta International Expo Kemayoran on Thursday, Jokowi highlighted the complexity of the local governments’ regulations that oftentimes led to a delay in the victims receiving the aid.
"I often see in the field (while visiting the disaster-affected areas) that everything (the assistance) is piled up at the command post or at the village office,” he noted.
The president remarked that while several trucks carrying the aid sometimes passed by, the people affected by the disaster still could not get their hands on the assistance.
Despite a lot of donations being collected from the public at the local governments’ offices or disaster command post, the assistance was not immediately disbursed since there were procedures that had to be followed, he stated.
He emphasized that people should not encounter difficulties in receiving the aid, especially since they have lost family members and livelihoods due to the disaster.
Although the aid could not be utilized immediately due to limited tools, for instance, people could not cook the rice provided through the assistance since there was no stove, yet it was important to disburse the aid to relieve the victims’ burden and sorrows, Jokowi stated.
However, the aid distribution process should still be managed well, so the assistance is given directly to the targeted community, he stressed.
"Make the simplest (regulations), so that the money or assistance can be immediately disbursed to the community, but properly controlled. In a disaster (emergency) situation, swiftness (on disaster handling and mitigation) is highly required," he remarked.
On the same occasion, the president also urged the local governments to prepare a budget for disaster mitigation and handling attempts, especially if their regions are prone to disasters.
He noted that the frequency of natural disasters in Indonesia had increased by 81 percent over the last decade, from 1,945 disasters in 2010 to 3,544 disasters in 2022.
Hence, he encouraged the local governments and BPBD to identify the potentials for disasters in their respective regions to be able to estimate the budget allocation.
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Translator: Mentari Gayati, Uyu Liman
Editor: Rahmad Nasution
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