Govt to strengthen Bakornas PBP

Muninggar Sri Saraswati, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The government said on Thursday it would strengthen the National Disaster Coordinating Agency (Bakornas PBP) into a body resembling the U.S. National Guard in order for it to be able to take swift action in tackling future catastrophes.

The plan follows on the heels of a killer earthquake that devastated Nias and Simeulue islands in northern Sumatra on Monday, killing hundreds of people. Three days after the disaster, rescue work and the evacuation of victims were still moving at a slow pace.

Announcing the plan, Coordinating Minister for People's Welfare Alwi Shihab said the number of Bakornas PBP personnel, along with its equipment and budget would be increased.

"In the future, (we will) strengthen the agency in terms of personnel, equipment, budget and other things related to emergency responses," he told the press after a meeting with Vice President Jusuf Kalla.

The minister, who cut short his visit to Qatar due to Monday's earthquake, also explained that Bakornas PBP needed to have a team always on standby to respond quickly to rescue needs in areas hit by a natural disaster.

"Bakornas PBP needs to have a ready-for-dispatch team, such as the National Guard in the United States, whose members are trained like troops, so we don't need to disturb the military," Alwi said.

He said his office would soon send a team abroad for a comparative study on the working mechanism of a special team for disaster control.

"The team will do comparative studies in the U.S., France and other countries. We will not copy any of those institutions exactly, because we have to adjust it to our needs," he added. "It's a real comparative study, not just a tour," Alwi stressed, in an apparent reference to other "comparative studies" where government officials do little more than entertain themselves abroad on the taxpayers' dime.

He asserted that the Bakornas PBP's team had to be supported by an adequate budget and equipment as well as skillful personnel.

"We will discuss this matter with the House of Representatives. The President's request for several legislators to join him on his current visit was partly aimed at showing them the importance (of strengthening the agency)," Alwi said, referring to Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's visit to Nias and Simeuleu on Thursday with a group of legislators.

The Barkonas is an ad hoc body that Vice President Jusuf Kalla leads. It is mainly tasked with coordinating state institutions, including the Ministry of Social Affairs, the Ministry of Health, the National Police and the Indonesia Military to assist disaster victims and rehabilitate the affected areas.

The agency was widely criticized for its slow response to and poor coordination of relief operations over the Dec. 26 catastrophe that ravaged much of Aceh and parts of North Sumatra, leaving some 230,000 people killed or missing and feared dead.

Alwi also said he would ask foreign non-governmental organizations to help deal with humanitarian operations in Indonesia, which is prone to natural disasters.

The NGOs, he added, could set up logistics centers in cities across the country, so they would be ready to provide necessary assistance, such as generators, water treatment facilities or tents, anytime a disaster hits.

"The logistics centers could be under the coordination of the social affairs ministry or Bakornas PBP. They could be established in major cities, and we'll facilitate them. Their humanitarian assistance would be used anytime. It would not be useless," Alwi promised.

He said some international NGOs had responded positively to his proposal.

Meanwhile, a working team with the House's Commission VIII for the environment held a meeting with the Indonesian Disaster Mitigation Society (MPBI) to discuss the draft disaster management law prior to its deliberation.

Legislator Aisyah Hamid Baidlowi, who chairs the working team, said the draft is mandatory for the establishment of a special body to handle disasters in the country.

"We've not yet discussed it in detail, but the body would not be an ad hoc one," she said.