East Java government earmarks Rp 115b for disaster control
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.