Chief of the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) Suharyanto emphasized that the role of local governments, as the task force commanders or frontliners, is important when a disaster strikes.

“When a disaster emergency occurs, the district heads and mayors automatically become the frontliners and commanders in handling disaster emergencies,” Suharyanto noted here on Thursday.

Suharyanto drew attention to President Joko Widodo’s (Jokowi’s) directive about the imminent role of local governments, such as absolute responsibility, as commander of the disaster emergency task force.

The BNPB head said that during a disaster emergency, the local governments should draw up contingency plans and improve leadership, as well as prepare programs that are oriented towards disaster resilience.

Through the Disaster Mitigation Education and Training Center, Suharyanto held a leadership training for East Java local government leaders and chairpersons and speakers of district and city legislative councils (DPRDs) of the province, on Tuesday (November 2).

This training is aimed at increasing the capacity of local governments in disaster handling, especially in responding to emergency situations properly, quickly, and precisely.

In his speech, the BNPB chief stated that Indonesia is one of the 35 countries in the world with the highest level of disaster risk, according to the World Bank.

According to the BNPB data, during the period between January 1 and November 1, 2022, some 3,045 disaster events, chiefly constituting hydrometeorological disasters, such as floods, extreme weather, and landslides, were recorded in the country

Meanwhile, 38 districts and cities in East Java are at high risk of disaster, and in the last three years, the East Java region was largely affected by flooding.

“(Therefore,) capacity building, disaster preparedness, and risk reduction measures through this leadership training are appropriate and very important commitments,” Suharyanto stated.

Source: Antara News