"Besides weather modification, we should also optimize existing infrastructure and carry out routine disaster alert roll calls to prevent hydrometeorological disasters," the minister added in a statement issued by his office on Thursday.
In addition, he stressed the active role of the community in maintaining the sustainability of the surrounding environment.
He conveyed this while leading the Hydrometeorological Disaster Emergency Alert Coordination Meeting at the South Sulawesi Governor's Office.
Earlier, the Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) estimated that Indonesia is currently experiencing medium to high rainfall. The highest rainfall could be recorded from December 2024 to January 2025.
The government is prioritizing preventive measures for disaster risk reduction by strengthening the early monitoring system and ensuring readiness against emergency and post-disaster situations.
The South Sulawesi provincial government has also taken preventive steps by declaring an emergency response status in 16 districts/cities and an emergency alert status in eight districts/cities.
Pratikno said that the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) has handed over ready-to-use fund assistance to the provincial government and district/city administrations for handling hydrometeorological disasters.
Meanwhile, the head of BNPB, Suharyanto, said that the coordination meeting was a joint effort to increase preparedness in dealing with hydrometeorological disasters.
"We are formulating measurable disaster mitigation steps to help communities affected by disasters and also carry out disaster prevention," he informed.
Moreover, the head of BMKG, Dwikorita Karnawati, urged the community to continue monitoring weather forecasts to anticipate high rainfall.
"We remind the community to monitor the development of weather information through the Info BMKG application. On that app, we put weather information for the next six days," she informed.
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Translator: Asep Firmansyah, Resinta Sulistiyandari
Editor: Azis Kurmala
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