Weak disaster management leads to deaths

By Hans Nicholas Jong

In the wake of extreme weather that has devastated parts of Indonesia and claimed dozens of lives, the government is being urged to overhaul the country’s disaster management by introducing disaster literacy in school curriculums, as well as by strengthening its early warning system.

Indonesia’s disaster literacy in general is still low compared to other disaster-prone countries like Japan, a senior researcher has said.

“In Japan, disaster literacy is already internalized. In every school and village, there is training to prepare for disasters. For instance, elementary students are trained once every three months on what to do during earthquakes,” Bogor Institute of Agriculture (IPB) senior researcher Soeryo Adiwibowo said.

While disaster literacy might not prevent disasters from claiming any lives, it can at least reduce the death toll, Soeryo said.