Sarwono urges decree on natural disasters

Sarwono urges decree on natural disasters

JAKARTA (JP): State Minister of Environment Sarwono
Kusumaatmadja has said another, more comprehensive decree on
natural disasters is needed to better prepare for future
problems.

Speaking at a year-end media gathering Tuesday evening,
Sarwono said a clearer definition of what a disaster was and ways
to cope with one were needed to help the country's bureaucracy
work in a crisis.

He said a presidential decree would help refine the work of
the National Disaster Coordinating Board (Bakornas PB).

"The definition of a disaster and ways to deal with one (in
the current presidential decree) are neither clear nor complete,"
he said.

He said it was the nature of a bureaucracy "not to be able to
work if given an unclear definition of a problem or incomplete
ways of dealing with it."

Bakornas PB, chaired by Coordinating Minister for People's
Welfare Azwar Anas, was established under a presidential decree
in 1990 as a inter-ministerial coordinating institution.

Some of the bodies it includes are the ministries of social
affairs, home affairs, health, public works, information; the
Armed Forces; and provincial governors.

The office of the state minister of environment, the
ministries of forestry, agriculture, defense and security, and
the Agency for the Assessment and Application of Technologies are
non-permanent members of Bakornas PB.

Sarwono said: "Although it (last year's forest fires) was
clearly a disaster, not many (bureaucrats) responded well to it."

He recounted his recent experiences with government colleagues
who had "no sensitivity to the urgency of the problem at all."

"In this situation only those who are innovative can react
fast to this kind of disaster without bothering with the red
tape," he said.

According to Sarwono, the recent brush and forest fires should
have served as a "good lesson" for both the government and the
bureaucracy.

"Among other things we should be more knowledgeable about ways
of detecting a (forest fire) disaster. We need to create an early
warning system that will enable us to take any necessary steps,"
he said.

Huge brush and forest fires raged in Sumatra and Kalimantan in
the latter half of 1997. The resulting haze not only enveloped
many parts of the country but also neighboring Malaysia and
Singapore.

The situation was aggravated by the El Nio weather phenomenon
which helped delay the monsoon.

Sarwono maintained that the ad hoc national coordinating team
to fight forest fires, set up by President Soeharto last
September, should be incorporated into Bakornas PB through a new
decree.

"If it was, every province would have its own forest fire
coordinating unit," he said.

Sarwono said a "detailed final losses assessment" of the
disaster would be completed in two months.

He said a study of the impact of the fires was currently being
conducted by the government in cooperation with the European
Union. (aan)