Indonesia’s Policies on Disaster Management Related to Social Security

Indonesia’s Policies on Disaster Management Related to Social Security

A.     Introduction

Indonesia is an archipelagic nation extending 5,120 kilometres from east to west and 1,760 kilometres from north to south. It encompasses an estimated 17,508 islands, only 6,000 of which are inhabited. The country has five main islands; Sumatra, Java, Borneo (known as "Kalimantan" in Indonesia), Sulawesi and Papua; two major archipelagos (the Nusa Tenggara Islands and the Mollucas Islands); and sixty smaller archipelagos. Indonesia is located in the Pacific Ring of Fire, so it has many active volcanoes that are considered as the most active in the world (Indonesia has 500 volcanoes in which 129 are categorised as active volcanoes).

Indonesia also has four major tectonic plates that are thrusting into each other, i.e. the Eurasian plate that moves south-eastward with a speed of 0.4 cm per year, the Indo-Australian plate that moves northward with a speed of 7 cm per year, the Pacific plate that moves westward with a speed of 11 cm per year and the Philippines plate that moves north-westward with a speed of 8 cm per year. This condition makes the country prone to earthquake hazard. An earthquake that occurs in the sea may trigger a tsunami threat, so in this case Indonesia is also prone to tsunami (about 7,800 villages are categorised as prone to tsunami).  Another fact is that Indonesia has 5,950 rivers in which 600 of those rivers are categorised as potential to flood. Indonesia also has 521 districts or cities in which 154 of it are categorised as flood-prone and 153 as drought-prone areas. Data about catastrophic and disaster in Indonesia can be seen on table 1 and 2.

Table 1

Catastrophic in Indonesia

No.	Date	Disaster	Victims
1.	1815	Mt Tambora eruption	92,000 people died
2.	19 May 1919	Mt Kelud - East Java eruption	5,115 people died
3.	26 August 1883	Mt Krakatau - Banten eruption	36,417 people died
4.	12 December 1992	Ende Flores - NTT earthquake and tsunami	2,100 people died
5.	26 December 2004	Aceh and Nias earthquake and tsunami	227,898 people died
6.	27 May 2006	Yogyakarta earthquake	6,234 people died
7.	October 2008	Padang - West Sumatra earthquake	120 people died
8.	25 October 2010	Mentawai Island earthquake and tsunami	509 people died
9.	26 October -            5 November 2010	Mt Merapi - Yogyakarta eruption	354 people died

Indonesia spans 5,120 km and is spread across an archipelago of more than 17,508 islands. It is home to over 240 million people, making it the world's fourth largest country by population. It also has a huge diversity of ethnic peoples, speaking more than 300 different local languages. In this context, Indonesia is also vulnerable for social conflict.

Table 1

Disaster in Indonesia 2009 - 2011

No.	Type	2009	2010	2011
1.	Disasters	1,675 cases	644 cases	1,545 cases
2.	Died Victims	2,620 people	1,711 people	940 people
3.	Suffered Victims	5,500,000 people	1,398,923 people	294,124 people
4.	Damaged Houses
	-      Severely damaged	19,324 units	14,693 units	14,935 units
	-      Moderate damaged	9,480 units	2,830 units	3,300 units
	-      Slightly damaged	13,713 units	25,030 units	3,676 units

B.      Legal Basis

The Indonesian Government has strong commitment to build disaster resilient nation and communities. It can be clearly seen by several laws and regulation that has been released as follows:

1.      Act No. 24, 2007 on Disaster Management

2.      Act No. 11, 2009 on Social Welfare

3.      Act No. 36, 2009 on Health

4.      Act No. 13, 2011 on Poverty Alleviation

5.      Presidential Regulation No. 8, 2008 about National  Disaster Management  Board (BNPB)

6.      National Action Plan for Disaster Management 2010-2014.

C.      Disaster Management in Indonesia

Based on the National Disaster Management System, there are three main activities that need to be considered as follows:

1.      Before disaster

In this phase, coordination is directed in terms of prevention, mitigation and preparedness. Each sector or ministry can be a coordinator for each relevant issue.

2.      During disaster

In this phase, coordination is directed in terms of emergency response. All sectors or ministries are under coordination of BNPB.

3.      After disaster

In this phase, coordination is directed in terms of recovery. Each sector or ministry can be a coordinator for each relevant issue.

Regarding the, the Ministry of Social Affairs has responsibilities in providing food supplies, mitigation and preparedness whilst the Ministry of Health has responsibilities in providing health care, medicines and health workers. Based on the National Disaster Management Planning, the Ministry of Man Power and Transmigration has responsibilities in sending the victims of disaster to safety locations and providing vocational training for them.

D.     The Policy of Ministry of Social Affairs for Social Security

To ensure the social security for victims of disaster, the policy of the Ministry of Social Affairs as follows:

1.      Ensuring protection and social security systems to victims who require special protection, i.e. the vulnerable group and the poor.

2.      Conducting comprehensive, synergistic and integrated redistribution, to meet the basic and social rights of the victims who need special protection and social security.

3.      Optimising the management and utilisation of the social sources of public funding to support the implementation of social welfare by the community.

E.      Programs and Activities of Ministry of Social Affairs

These are the programs and activities conducted by the Ministry of Social Affairs related to disaster management:

1.      Preparedness and Mitigation

a.      Capacity building TAGANA, TRC, Social Work, etc

b.      Developing Community Based DM (KSB)

c.       Building Logistic system

2.      Emergency Response

a.      Activating all disaster management networking system

b.      Mobilizing resources

3.      Social Recovery

a.      Providing Houses

b.      Enhancing Social Functions

F.       Programs and Activities of Ministry of Health

The programs and activities of Ministry of Health related to the disaster management as follows:

1.      Preparedness and mitigation

a.      Capacity building team

b.      Dissemination and simulation to communities

c.       Developing infrastructure of health in 8 regional areas

2.      Emergency Response

a.      Activated all disaster management networking system

b.      Mobilizing resources

3.      Social Recovery

a.      Providing health care services (physical and mental)

b.      Preventing contagious diseases in IDPs camps

c.       Providing supplementary food

G.     Lesson Learned

In 2010, Indonesia has successfully managed the victims of Mt Merapi eruption in Yogyakarta.  In that time, the disaster had made 354 people dead, 240 people injured and 47,486 IDPs suffered. However, due to the experiences in the past and good coordination under BNPB, Indonesian government had provided temporary shelters for 2,613 families. Some vulnerable groups like children also had received special services through children centres (pondok ceria anak). The Ministry of Social Affairs and Ministry of Health had important roles as follows:

1.   Roles of the Ministry of Social Affairs

a.      Providing social security (Jadup)

b.      Providing temporary shelter for IDPs

c.       Providing psycho-social activities and trauma centers

d.      Providing social supports as a stimulant to start a small/creative business (UEP)

e.      Providing social services for very vulnerable groups such as children, elderly and persons with disabilities.

2.   Roles of the Ministry of Health

a.      Providing free health services through mobile community health centres (puskesmas) near disaster areas (IDPs camps)

b.      Providing medicines for victims/medical logistic

c.       Providing nutrition supports for pregnant mothers and babies under 5 years old

d.      Providing special services for victims with mental health problems

e.      Maintaining public health and preventing contagious diseases

H.     Challenges

Although Indonesian Government has many experiences in disaster management thorough these years, there are still some challenges which are need to be considered in the future as follows:

1. Minimise the risks of disaster through contingency plan, strengthening preparedness and mitigation system in disaster-prone areas.
2. Ensure the security of victims’ lives and their property.
3. Provide the services for vulnerable groups who have special needs.
4. Synergise the programs of the Ministry of Social Affairs and the Ministry of Health to enhance the quality of services in the future.

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