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Haunted by Various Disasters, Bitung Community is Prepared to be the Frontline of Disaster Management

Haunted by Various Disasters, Bitung Community is Prepared to be the Frontline of Disaster Management
Writer :
Alif Mufida Ulya (OHH Ditjen Linjamsos)
Editor :
Alek Triyono (OHH Ditjen Linjamsos) ; Annisa YH
Translator :
Karlina Irsalyana

BITUNG CITY (7 June 2021) - The community in Girian Weru Satu Village, Girian District and Manembo-nembo Village, Matuari District, Bitung City, North Sulawesi Province, has been prepared by the Ministry of Social Affairs to be the front line to deal with various possible disaster threats in the area through strengthening community capacity in dealing with disasters.

 

Often overshadowed by floods caused by water from Dua Saudara Mountain, the overflow of the Girian River, as well as tidal waves from the sea, and the potential for vulnerability to other disasters, such as earthquakes and landslides, to tsunamis, the people of Bitung City must increase their awareness and preparedness for possible disasters.

 

A resident of Girian Weru Satu, Yanto Mundi (48), who was later named the Head of the Disaster Preparedness Village (KSB), admitted that he had no idea about the KSB he would participate in. However, he said the area where he lived needed a program like KSB.

 

"We did not know what KSB was before, it was very common. After a day or two of directly participating in this program, then we knew it, Oo.. we need a program like this," he said after attending KSB training for three days.

 

KSB, as a model of a community-based disaster management approach is intended to change the mindset and pattern of community action in disaster management by preparing the community to be better able to manage vulnerabilities, threats, and risks in their own territory according to local potential.

 

Before aid came, Mundi continued, he realized that as a community in the affected area, he had to be able to help himself and those closest to him. Thanks to his training in KSB, he gained basic knowledge as a provision to face the disasters that he often experienced.

 

"The problem is, people often get flooded. So, thank you very much to the Ministry of Social Affairs, we can get such knowledge, simulations are also the same with friends. At least, people have a basis," he added.

 

The Mayor of Bitung, Maurits Mantri conveyed the same thing, that when a disaster occurs, the local community is the first group to be at risk from the threat.

 

"The community is the first target who directly faces the threat of disaster, therefore, community readiness determines the size of the impact of the disaster on the community," said the Mayor during the KSB Inauguration Ceremony at the Duasudara Stadium, Bitung, Saturday (5/6).

Moreover, he said, people affected by disasters are active actors to rebuild their lives after the disaster. "Inevitably, like it or not, people must be ready and alert so that the risks caused by disasters can be minimized," he explained.

On the sidelines of the inauguration ceremony, the Ministry of Social Affairs handed over assistance for the contents of the social granary to the Girian and Matuari sub-districts worth Rp110,322,956.

With the inauguration of KSB Girian Weru and Manembo-nembo, then it became the second and third location of KSB in Bitung City, in 2015, the Ministry of Social Affairs also facilitated the establishment of KSB in Girian Bawah Village for the first time in North Sulawesi Province.
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