Caring for Surabaya, preventing a moral disaster
Surabaya (ANTARA) - A resilient city is not defined solely by its ability to withstand floods, fires or earthquakes. Its resilience is also evident in how well it protects children from drugs, prevents violence and ensures that everyone grows up in a safe and respectful environment.
Such social threats do not always appear as visibly as collapsed buildings or flooded roads. Their effects can develop quietly in families, schools and neighbourhoods before emerging as problems that shake society.
In this article, “moral disaster” is used as a metaphor for collective failure to prevent the erosion of values, behaviour and social protection; it is not an official disaster-management category.
For Surabaya, the warning is real. A raid in the Jalan Kunti area, the discovery in 2025 that several junior secondary school pupils had tested positive for drugs, and a suspected bullying case involving a child with a disability who died in September 2026 all highlight the importance of acting before problems turn into tragedies.
Yona Bagus Widyatmoko, chair of Commission A of the Surabaya Regional House of Representatives (DPRD), has called for families, schools and the government to play a stronger role in detecting risks early. The challenge is to shift from merely responding to incidents towards building prevention measures that can be assessed.
Signs of vulnerability
A raid on Jalan Kunti, in Semampir district, on 14 October 2026 was one illustration of the challenges in tackling narcotics. During the operation, a joint team detained 19 people for questioning.
Enforcement is important to disrupt networks, but it is not enough unless followed by prevention, rehabilitation and efforts to strengthen community life. The problem has a history.
In November 2025, the Surabaya city administration responded after 15 junior secondary school pupils in the Jalan Kunti area were found to have tested positive for drug use. The discovery was a warning about children’s vulnerability to risky environments and the need to strengthen protection at home and at school.
Nationally, a 2023–2025 survey by the National Narcotics Agency (BNN) and the National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN) put the prevalence of narcotics abuse at 2.11 per cent, or about 4.15 million people aged 15–64.
That figure is not specific to Surabaya, but it illustrates the scale of the challenge, which requires prevention, enforcement and rehabilitation.
Another warning came from a suspected bullying case involving a 10-year-old child with a disability in Surabaya, who died on 12 September 2026.