Jakarta,
July 27, 2017 (Antara) - Natural disasters that have hit Indonesia up to
June 2017 include floods (37.4 percent), whirlwinds (29.2 percent), landslides
(28.9 percent), earthquakes, and forest fires, among other things.
Floods
have claimed a total of 88 lives, landslides have claimed 84, and whirlwinds
have claimed 19 lives across the country in the first semester of this year.
Natural
disasters, in fact, have been forecast by the National Disaster Mitigation
Agency (BNPB), as the country is prone to flooding in rainy season and
wildfires during drought.
In Dec 2016, the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) had given warning
to several regions for anticipation of natural disasters.
Anticipation and disaster mitigation preparedness are crucial, given the fact
that last year, Indonesia was battered by 2,342 natural disasters, the highest
in the past 14 years, making it one of the most violent years in recent times.
As many as 522 people were killed in the disasters.
Natural disasters have inflicted material losses and caused a lot of suffering,
mostly among the poor, Sutopo Purwo Nugroho, BNPB spokesman, stated. He called
on the media to help promote greater awareness of disasters among the public.
In
East Bangka District, Bangka Belitung Province, recent flooding inflicted
material losses reaching Rp338 billion.
"We do not have the exact figure, but our estimate is that the material
losses have reached Rp338 billion," Yuslih Ihza, East Belitung District
Head, noted on July 24, 2017.
Losses from destruction of infrastructure were estimated at Rp300.7 billion,
while losses from agricultural and animal husbandry were worth over Rp16
billion.
He planned to seek assistance from the central and provincial governments to
repair the affected infrastructure particularly.
"It happens that this Thursday (July 27), there will be a meeting with
President Joko Widodo, the Governor of BI (central bank), and the Public Works
and Public Housing Minister. I think this is the right momentum to talk about
infrastructure that was destroyed or damaged by the disaster," he stated.
The Bangka Belitung chapter of Bank Indonesia (BI) has predicted that flooding
and extreme climate that affected the province lately could cause economic
sluggishness.
The flooding in East Belitung has affected food stock and damaged
infrastructure, which consequently disturbed logistic supply and distribution,
Bayu Martanto, head of BI Office in Bangka Belitung, noted.
Paddy harvest failure due to flooding in Belitung and East Belitung Districts
would also affect food supply, he added.
The local BI office has taken several measures to guarantee food supply and
stabilize the economy.
Besides, the provincial government of Bangka Belitung Islands has distributed
40 tons of rice to help flood victims in Belitung and East Belitung Districts,
by addressing food shortage following the disaster.
The
Regional Disaster Management Agency (BPBD) of Bangka Belitung (Babel) Province
has deployed a helicopter to distribute aid and evacuate flood victims in
Belitung Island.
Meanwhile,
in Tulungagung, East Java Governor Soekarwo remarked that salt crisis in the
province currently is due to bad weather that has cause a decrease in salt
production.
"Hence, salt production in East Java is 174 thousand tons per month during
summer. But lately, there has been more rains, and the weather is cloudy.
Hence, salt production has dropped to 123 thousand tons," Soekarwo
revealed.
Salt quality has also decreased because of rains.
He claimed that in this case, he felt helpless because it was caused by nature.
Indonesia
has been facing a salt scarcity over the last three weeks due to bad weather.
Floods
have also affected 21 villages in five sub-districts in Murung Raya District,
and North Barito District, Central Kalimantan Province, after the Barito River
overflowed its banks recently.
Personnel of the Murung Raya disaster mitigation office's swift reaction team
had been deployed in the flood-affected areas to help victims.
Flooding
has affected a village in Pertama Intan Sub-district, five villages in Murung
Sub-district, two in Laung Tuhup Sub-district, three villages in Barito Tuhup
Raya Sub-district, and two villages in Sumber Barito Sub-district.
Floodwaters, reaching a height of up to more than a meter, submerged the
villages of Sumpoi, Purul Cahu Seberang, and Juking Pajang in Murung
Sub-district, as well as the villages of Muara Laung I, Muara Laung II, and
Muara Teweh in Laung Tuhup Sub-district.
Thousands of villagers were forced to evacuate to higher ground. School
buildings and medical facilities were also flooded.
In
addition to flooding, several provinces in Indonesia are also currently being
hit by forest and plantation fires.
The
fire-affected provinces include Aceh, Jambi, Riau, South Sumatra, South
Kalimantan, and West Kalimantan Provinces. As of July 25, a total of 179
hotspots were detected in those provinces.
In Aceh Province, wildfires have gutted some 70 hectares of peatland area in
West Aceh District over the past one week, according to the Aceh disaster
mitigation office (BPBA).
The wildfires were found in six sub-, namely Johan Palawan, Meureubo, Samatiga,
Kaway Enam Belas, Woyla Barat, and Arongan Lambalek in the district of West
Aceh, Yesmadi, BPBA head, revealed here on Wednesday.
The
efforts to extinguish the fires were difficult because the fires occurred in
peatland located deep in forest.
Haze
coming from the fires has forced temporary closure of several schools in
Meulaboh.
At least 23 people were given medical treatment in Cut Nyak Dhien Hospital in
Meulaboh for respiratory infection.
West Aceh has asked the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) to help
extinguish the fires by deploying water bombing helicopters.
"Thank God, BNPB is ready to send two helicopters. One has arrived and
another is coming today," he explained.
Besides,
the Environment and Forestry Ministry deployed its land-forest fire task force
to extinguish the raging blazes. ***4***(f001/INE/a014 )
EDITED BY INE
(T.F001/A/BESSR/A. Abdussalam)
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