Reactions to Natural Disasters

Three natural disasters struck Indonesia recently i.e flood in Wasior, West Papua, on 4 October killed 147 people, earthquake and tsunami on the islands of Mentawai, West Sumatra, on 25 October killed 445 people, and eruption of Mount Merapi, Yogjakarta on 26 October and 4 November killed 116 people. Besides, many others were wounded, and more than 150 thousand people must be evacuated.   .

Many people, including celebrities, have given positive reactions to the above mentioned natural disasters, e.g by collecting donations, becoming rescue volunteers, and other good things to help victims. And others have given different reactions.

First there was the Minister of Information and Communication who linked the natural disasters with declining public moral.

Then there was the Australian Qantas airlines that blamed Mount Merapi's volcanic ash for the emergency landing of its aircraft in Singapore. This was followed by13 foreign airlines that canceled their flight to and from Jakarta, after Mount Merapi erupted again last Thursday.

Further, there was the Governor of West Sumatra who traveled to Germany last Wednesday although rescuers are still facing difficulties to help tsunami survivors and thousands of people are still living in evacuation.

But like they say " every cloud has a silver lining ", beside the above bitter reactions, there were also good and positive reactions i.e the Vice President Boediono immediately flew to West Sumatra after the tsunami, followed by President Susilo Bambang Yudoyono (SBY) who temporarily left the East Asia Summit meeting in Hanoi, Vietnam.

And for better coordination of disaster relief efforts, SBY has temporarily moved his office to Yogjakarta, and appointed the chief of the national disasters agency Syamsul Maarif as the top coordinator of disasters management, thereby uplifting Maarif's position to a ministerial level.

I hope that more people in Indonesia, especially those who love to gather and protest, would do whatever they can to help the victims of natural disasters in our own country.

Natural Disaster as a Part of Life

Natural disasters occurred very often in Indonesia causing the death of so many people and many others missing, beside destroying homes, offices, factories, et cetera.

First there was the flood in Wasior, West Papua that killed many people and destroyed the town. Then came the Tsunami in Mentawai, West Sumatra, last Monday that has killed more than 400 people and almost 500 others missing. This was followed by the eruption of Mount Merapi in Yogjakarta last Tuesday, that killed  at least 33  people, including the Keeper of the Mountain Mbah Marijan (80) and a TV Reporter.

I should also mention the heavy rainfall that caused floods and inundated several parts of Jakarta, the capital city, almost every year.

Beside natural disasters, there is also disaster allegedly caused by human error in oil drilling operation i.e the Lapindo Hot Mud Flow Tragedy in Sidoarjo, East Java, that has inundated large area of homes, factories, farmlands etc. since 2005.

People in Indonesia gave various comments on the said disasters. Some people, including the Minister of Information and Communication Tifatul Sembiring, said that they are signs of God's punishment to sinful people living in the disastrous region.

Considering that Indonesia has lots of active volcanic mountains, and its geographical location is vulnerable to earthquakes, many Indonesians have regarded natural disasters as part of life, therefore we should be ready to face them. 

In this regards, I would like to share with you an article written by Peter Gelling on Globe Post (below).  Happy reading.

Indonesia : It's Not Disasterland                                 
Analysis: Natural disasters are all the media tells us about Indonesia. But there's so much more.      Published: October 28, 2010 13:27 ET in Asia 
 

BOSTON — In Jakarta, Indonesia’s sprawling mega-capital, when the ground rumbles in that all too familiar way, everyone runs.

There is no order to it. There are no clearly marked emergency exits and people do not form lines as they calmly file out of the city’s ubiquitous office towers and malls. No, no matter where you are, you get out fast — women and children be damned.

There is no telling how many movie theaters I’ve torn out of, a full fight of stairs ahead of my Javanese girlfriend.
But when the tectonics settle, usually only a few minutes later, shoulders are shrugged and everyone meanders back inside.

For Indonesians, disasters are a part of their everyday life — a reality made starkly apparent this week when three of them struck simultaneously in highly populated regions of the country. So when news organizations around the world stumble to cover them ad nauseum, it often seems incongruous to those living there.

To many messages of concern sent from home during the time I lived there, I replied, “Why? What happened?”   Read More ..

Lapindo Mudflow Tragedy

Four years ago, PT. Lapindo Brantas failed to follow standard procedure for pumping natural gas in Sidoarjo, East Java, causing a never ending hot mud flow that inundated many buildings and commercial lands in the neigbouring area.

Now, the tragedy  has been regarded as a mere natural disaster and responsibility of PT. Lapindo Brantas and its owner have been transfered to the government.

According to Kompas (below) the government of East Java is planning to turn Mudflow site into a Tourist site, for which purpose the amount of 273 Billion Rupiah in fund has been allocated.

Rp273 Billion for Lapindo Tourist Site Allocated

Sabtu, 29 Mei 2010 | 06:01 WIB

 SURABAYA, KOMPAS.com - The government has set aside  Rp273 billion in funds to develop a geological tourist object near the Lapindo mudflow site in Sidoarjo district, East Java, an official said. 
 
"The government through the maritime affairs and fisheries ministry has set aside Rp273 billion in funds to develop Lapindo geological tourist site," East Java Governor Soekarwo said here on Friday.
  
The 83-hectare geological tourist object would be located north of the mudflow site, he said adding: "President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono visited the location some time ago."
  
"The DED (detailed engineering design) of the project will be available in 2011. The project is likely to be started this year," he said.
  
Asked to comment on the land subsidence around the mudflow site, he said there was nothing to worry about it.
  
"The land subsidence can be handled if new embankments are not built. The emergence of new mudflow spots and land subsidence results from the construction of new embankments which add to another burden," he said quoting geologists of the Surabaya-based Sepuluh November Institute of Technology (ITS) and Airlangga University (Unair).
 
To date, there were 180 thousand mudflow spots, including 30 thousand to 50 thousand new ones, he said. The mudflow first began from a crack near an exploratory gas well owned by PT Lapindo Brantas on May 29, 2006. It soon expanded into a mud lake, swallowing houses, factories and schools, leaving more than 15,000 people homeless.

Are we ready for Deadlier Earthquake?

On 26 Dec. 2004, an earthquake with a magnitude of 8.6 on the Richter Scale struck the western coast of the Island Island of Sumatera causing Tsunami and killing more than 170 thousand people in the Province of Aceh.

Many countries have shown solidarity and provide various kinds of supports including US$ 7 billion in finance, for the reconstruction in Aceh.

Since then, Indonesia has been struck by many other earthquakes the deadliest ones being in Yogjakarta on May 2006 that killed more than 6,000 people and West Sumatera last September killing more than 1,100 people and destroying thousands of building, roads, bridges.

In spite of our experiences in handling similar earthquakes, some people assumed that the rescue and reconstruction efforts are slow. This assumption is caused by lack of understanding on the difficult conditions in the place of tragedy.

Considering the above, I hope that the authorities, especially the National Natural Disaster Recovery Agency, the National Search and Rescue Agency, would make better efforts to anticipate future earthquakes. For example by providing information about natural disasters that might struck Indonesia, and building & improving early warning systems.
Further, the authority must also be strict in granting permits for buildings, for pumping ground water, cutting forests trees, etc.

Although the above efforts would not guarantee that there would not be any more casualties, however they could at least minimize the impact.


Photo - impact of the Tsunami in Aceh : Courtesy of East Asian Times

The Misterious Lapindo Mud Flow

"The Lapindo Mud Flow will remain mysterious" that's what I thought when I heard that Aburizal Bakrie the newly elected Chairman of Golkar Party said that Golkar will join the coalition government of President elect SBY for the next five years.

The reason is because Bakrie & family are majority shareholders of PT Lapindo Brantas that violated the standard procedure for drilling oil in Sidoarjo, East Java in 2006, causing never ending Hot Mud flow that inundated large area of land and all its houses, offices, factories, forcing its inhabitants to refuge to other area.

Actually, there were indications that this case will be a mystery, the latest was the decision of East Java Police to stop investigation on PT Lapindo Brantas based on two Court verdicts rejecting two lawsuits against PT Lapindo, one by the Indonesian Environmental Agency (WALHI), and another one by the Legal Aid Foundation (LBH). Both verdicts were based on statements of scientists who considered the Mud Flow as natural phenomenon caused by huge earthquake that devastated the province of Jogyakarta earlier.
Last month the House of Representatives (DPR) has also declared that the Lapindo Mud Flow is a natural phenomenon. As a consequence, PT Lapindo Brantas will no longer be held responsible for the disaster, and the government will take over said responsibility.

For detailed media reports on the above, please click here, here, here and here.

Athough the actual cause of the Hot Mud Flow may be the natural phenemenon that hapened in area not far from Sidoarjo, however the fact shows that it was PT Lapindo Brantas that triggered the mud flow.
In order to know the real truth, it would be better to ask an international organization to conduct a thorough investigation and determine whether or not the Lapindo Mud Flow is a natural phenemenon or disaster caused by failure to comply with standard oil drilling procedure. Until then, this case will remain mysterious.