East Java government earmarks Rp 115b for disaster control

Ainur R. Sophiaan, The Jakarta Post, Surabaya

The East Java administration has allocated Rp 115 billion (US$ 12.9 million) to prepare for and respond to natural disasters in the province during the rainy season.

The administration said about Rp 40 billion would be allotted to prevent and deal with natural disasters, and Rp 75 billion would be held in reserve to deal with the impact of any such calamities.

East Java Governor Imam Utomo said on Monday the provincial administration had taken all possible steps to prevent any casualties as a result of natural disasters.

The allocation of the money comes after at least 26 people were killed when a landslide hit the Padusan hot springs in the Pacet resort area of Mojokerto regency last month.

A massive wave of mud, water and rocks triggered by three days of rain obliterated the resort, where scores of people were bathing in the Padusan hot springs.

Some environmentalists blamed the tragedy on state-owned forestry and plantation company PT Perhutani, which manages the resort. They said Perhutani failed to take steps to prevent the disaster despite an earlier landslide in the same area.

Syafrudin Ngulma, director of East Java's Walhi environmental group, also accused Perhutani of ignoring illegal logging and deforestation above the resort.

Walhi had for years been warning Perhutani to stop the logging in Pacet and the surrounding areas of Tretes and Trawas.

Meanwhile, many people living near Mount Semeru, the largest mountain in Java, have been evacuated from their homes. Most of the residents of the town of Lumajang have been evacuated as the volcanic activity of the mountain increases in intensity. However, some residents refused to leave their homes.

The East Java government has warned those people who refuse to evacuate that landslides could sweep through their villages.

Geologists have said there are more than 140 areas in East Java at risk of natural disasters, while 18 other areas are subject to high levels of rainfall and flooding.

Marci T.H. Setiawan, a senior member of the Indonesian Geologists Association, told a provincial natural disaster coordination meeting in the East Java capital of Surabaya on Monday that deforestation played the greatest role in determining which areas were prone to natural disasters.

Rampant deforestation, he said, had increased the number of danger zones, while other areas were mostly threatened by flooding because of heavy rainfall in the region.

"Ten percent of the 18 areas are flooded every season, including Bojonegoro, Lamongan and Gresik, while Situbondo and Bondowoso also are vulnerable to flooding. Pacitan, at the southernmost point of East Java, has 500 square kilometers that are prone to landslides," Setiawan said.

Governor Imam Utomo said the increased threat of natural disasters in East Java was the result of "unfinished reforestation programs" in the regencies of Bondowoso, Malang and Situbondo.

"And then there were the landslides in Pacet, Bondowoso and Situbondo. Those disasters further disrupted the reforestation programs," he said.

He urged all of the regents in East Java to outline their regional regulations for conserving protected forests so as to help prevent further natural disasters.

"Forests located on land that slopes more than 45 degree must be declared protected," the governor said.