Jakarta (ANTARA) - Deputy Speaker of the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) Lestari Moerdijat underscored that the potential extreme weather in the seasonal transition must be anticipated by promoting disaster mitigation in the community.

"Promoting disaster mitigation in a country surrounded by volcanoes and with the potential for extreme weather is a very important effort," she said in a statement received in Jakarta on Sunday.

According to her, the impact of changes in weather, which can potentially cause disasters, must be anticipated as well as possible. The Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) has predicted that the moderate El Nino phenomenon will end in February 2024.

Furthermore, she continued that with Indonesia's condition as a country that is prone to disasters, all citizens must be given adequate understanding and knowledge to mitigate various disasters.

Moerdijat stated that efforts to increase the understanding of disaster mitigation can be carried out through learning processes at various levels of education.

She noted that the dissemination of information on disaster mitigation must also be given to community groups to improve their knowledge and understanding.

She added that the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) had made efforts to realize the resilience of the community in responding to disasters, among others, by developing the Disaster Resilient Village (Destana) program, which was first initiated in 2012.

The MPR deputy speaker assessed that the more people at all levels understand disaster mitigation, the better disaster management efforts in the country will be.

She added that efforts to overcome natural disasters actually require the involvement of policymakers and all elements of society to ensure the protection and safety of everyone in the country.

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Translator: Melalusa Susthira, Raka Adji
Editor: Azis Kurmala
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