Disaster management for Aceh calamity

Disaster management for Aceh calamity

Ong Hock Chuan, Jakarta

It is heartening to see the amount of goodwill, generosity and
willingness of Indonesians to help their compatriots in Aceh in
the aftermath of the tsunami. At the same time it is
disheartening to see how uncoordinated the rescue and relief
efforts have been.

Unless there is more coordination, the various agencies and
volunteer organizations will just continue to work in a counter-
productive manner, because there is seemingly no entity in charge
to set the objectives and priorities for the overall rescue and
relief effort.

With the death toll nearing 100,000 and the infrastructure
destroyed in most coastal areas, it is certainly a difficult task
for the government to coordinate the relief operation.

However, they can do much, much better though, by adopting the
Incident Command System (ICS) that has been developed by disaster
recovery professionals worldwide.

At the top of the ICS is the incident commander. His/her
function is to set the objectives and priorities of the rescue
and relief efforts and assume overall responsibility for bringing
the situation under control. There must be someone appointed to
be responsible for it. It is now not clear whether Vice President
Yusuf Kalla or the Coordinating Minister for People's Welfare
Alwi Shihab is the incident commander. The government would do
well to make it clear to everyone who is really in charge.

The incident commander must be supported by three officers in
charge of information, security and liaison work.

The information officer is in charge of gathering information
from the field for the commander to make decisions. He is also in
charge of disseminating information to the public via regular
updates to the media. The security officer is in charge of the
safety of the incident command as well as all rescue relief
workers. The liaison officer is the bridge between the incident
command and the four sections that report to the commander --
operations, planning, logistics and finance/administration.

The operations section conducts the tactical operations to
carry out the plan from the incident commander. They are also
charged with developing the tactical objectives and organization
of the operations as well as directing all the resources of the
rescue and relief efforts.

The planning section develops the action plan to accomplish
the objectives set by the incident commander. It collects and
evaluates information from the field and makes adjustments
accordingly. It also maintains the status of all resources.

The logistics section provides support to meet the needs on
the ground. It provides the resources by, for example, ensuring
that there is enough transport to get the aid workers to their
destinations, enough fuel for transport, enough facilities and
equipment for the operations people to do their jobs well.

Finally, the finance/administration section monitors costs
related to the incident as well as providing accounting,
procurement, time recording and cost-analysis services.

By adopting this simple structure, the government would be
able to focus all the well-meaning efforts of the aid agencies
and volunteer organizations and be much more effective in getting
help to Aceh.

There is no lack of expertise in setting up such structures in
Indonesia. There are many multinational companies operating in
the mining and oil and gas industries, for instance, who are
trained disaster recovery professionals, and they could help set
it up. Foreign countries and the UN also have such professionals
who are more than willing to help. All the government has to do
is to have the will to act decisively and fast, and most of all
request help.

If it manages to do this, then it would win the respect of all
Indonesians. Failure to do so could mean incurring the wrath of a
nation with a pent-up fury resulting from having to tolerate
successive incompetent governments over the years.

Already we are beginning to see the frustration and anger
welling up from among the public and in the media. Time is
running out for the government, but more importantly, time is
also running out for the victims and the survivors -- if the
situation in Aceh is not brought under control soon, we will see
a horrible disaster on top of the one that we have just
witnessed.

The writer is a Partner at PT Maverick Solusi Komunikasi, a PR
consultancy specializing in crisis/issue management as well as
brand communications. He can be reached at ong@maverick.co.id