Prabowo Prepares Additional Budget for Disaster Mitigation; BNPB Urges Strengthened Cross-Sectoral Approach
President Prabowo Subianto is preparing an additional budget to strengthen disaster mitigation. Regarding this initiative, the National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB) believes that strengthening mitigation cannot be solely burdened upon the BNPB, but must be undertaken by all relevant ministries, agencies, and sectors.
The Acting Head of the BNPB Data, Information, and Disaster Communication Centre, Berton SP Panjaitan, stated that from a programme perspective, the BNPB does not face issues regarding funding. For routine programmes, the BNPB obtains its budget through the Supplementary Budget (ABT) mechanism.
“In terms of programmes, the BNPB has no issues. The budget for our routine programmes is obtained through ABT funds,” Berton told reporters on Thursday (10/09/2026).
As for handling emergency conditions, the BNPB can utilise ready-to-use funds, while the needs for rehabilitation and reconstruction have their own specific funding sources.
“Emergency handling funds can be obtained through the ready-to-use fund mechanism. Meanwhile, rehabilitation and reconstruction programmes are funded by reconstruction funds,” he added.
Berton emphasised that the disaster mitigation budget should not be viewed solely through the lens of the BNPB’s needs. According to him, the BNPB is merely one actor in mitigation efforts, whereas the primary roles lie with ministries and agencies that manage their respective sectors.
“We need to understand that mitigation funds should not be viewed as belonging only to the BNPB. We are a small actor, but the major actors are the ministries and agencies,” he explained.
He cited the education sector as an example. According to Berton, mitigation budgets could be allocated to the ministry handling education to improve disaster awareness from an early age.
Such funds could be used to develop disaster-related curricula, train teachers, and construct disaster-resilient schools.
“For instance, so that schoolchildren understand disaster management from the start, mitigation funds can be allocated to the Ministry of Education to create curricula, train teachers regarding disasters, and build disaster-resilient schools,” he said.
Berton noted that mitigation needs also exist in various other sectors. He mentioned that the public works, health, and business sectors should also possess budgets to support disaster mitigation efforts.
“The public works sector, the health sector, the business sector, and others should all have mitigation funds,” he said.
Nevertheless, Berton assessed that the existence of the BNPB remains vital to ensure that these various mitigation efforts are integrated. The BNPB plays a role in coordinating mitigation activities conducted by various parties, ranging from central and regional governments to the public and private sectors.
“Is the BNPB necessary? Yes, it is necessary to coordinate various mitigation activities across all lines—central, regional, public, private, community leaders, and all generations,” he concluded.
Previously, President Prabowo Subianto stated that the government would significantly increase budget allocations for disaster mitigation. This is considered crucial given that Indonesia is located within the Pacific Ring of Fire, making it vulnerable to various natural disasters.
“A nation located within the Ring of Fire necessitates that we must be prepared to face such conditions at any time,” Prabowo said during a limited meeting on natural disaster management with regional heads via virtual connection on Monday (07/09/2026).
“This serves as a lesson for us and for the administration I lead; the budget allocation for disaster mitigation must be increased significantly,” he continued.