Papua BPBD Secretary Feri Baransano emphasized that the forum was crucial to address the province's existing weaknesses in terms of handling disasters.
"Papua Province is one of the disaster-prone regions in Indonesia, be it in terms of natural and human-caused disasters," he remarked.
He deemed it necessary to underline the fact and take feasible measures to reduce the risk of a specific disaster while taking into account its condition, susceptibility factors, occurrence possibility in future, and disaster risk potential.
"To that end, we need to explore mitigation measures to reduce the disaster risk," Baransano affirmed.
He elaborated further, saying that it is essential to formulate a comprehensive disaster management plan.
"The plan was jointly formulated and would serve as the guidelines for implementing disaster management in a coordinated, integrated, directed, and comprehensive manner," he pointed out.
He believes that the formulation effort is in line with Law No. 24 of 2007 regarding disaster management and the government's procedures of disaster management plan arrangement.
Bearing that in mind, it is crucial to improve the quality and analysis of the disaster management plan documents, he remarked.
He also expected that participants of the forum would be able to provide suggestions and ideas to address the main issues. He said, the suggestions and ideas will be laid down in the strategic issues related to disaster management.
"Disasters are issues of mutual concern of the government, the people, business sectors, media, and academics," he emphasized.
The forum took place at a hotel in Jayapura City, Papua, Friday, and was attended by those from the Indonesian Defense Forces, National Police, and all relevant technical agencies, as well as public and traditional figures.
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Translator: Qadri Pratiwi, Tegar Nurfitra
Editor: Sri Haryati
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