The Regional Disaster Mitigation Agency (BPBD) of Central Lombok, West Nusa Tenggara (NTT), supports the establishment of a “Tsunami Ready Community” in order to ensure the safety and comfort of tourists visiting the area.
“Currently, we are following the Tsunami Ready Community assessment from the UNESCO Team. All disaster information facilities have been installed at several disaster-prone points,” Head of the Central Lombok BPBD Ridwan Maruf stated on Monday.
Maruf explained that the Tsunami Ready Community is a community-based capacity building program to tackle the threat of tsunamis on a community-based basis. People residing in the coastal areas or Special Economic Zone (KEK) of Mandalika are expected to be ready to face the threats of earthquakes and tsunamis.
“The Tsunami Ready Community is proof that our regions and communities are ready to face a tsunami disaster,” he affirmed.
To that end, several facilities or early warning tools for the earthquake and tsunami in Central Lombok have been installed, including conducting simulations for the community in Kuta Mandalika. Of the districts and cities in Indonesia, the Tsunami Ready Community is formed in only two areas of Bali and Mandalika, Maruf pointed out.
This program is a form of collaboration between the Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) and the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in providing education to the public to be active and ready to face natural disasters for their own safety or to reduce the impact of the disasters caused.
“Tsunami detection equipment had also been installed in Mandalika,” he stated.
Maruf remarked that in 1977, the Central Lombok region was hit by a tsunami. Hence, the program was expected to prepare the community in facing the disaster.
Other supporting facilities have also been installed in the southern part of Central Lombok, including information boards and tsunami detectors that were built by the national disaster mitigation agency (BNPB) and provided to several regions.
“The tool is still being tested every month. Disaster information boards have been installed at several points,” he added.
Source: Antara News