Ministry of Social Affairs Collaborates with Jaya Military Command to Anticipate La Nina Impact

Ministry of Social Affairs Collaborates with Jaya Military Command to Anticipate La Nina Impact
Writer :
Alif Mufida Ulya
Editor :
David Myoga
Translator :
Intan Qonita N

JAKARTA (December 16, 2020) - The Ministry of Social Affairs cooperates with the Jaya Regional Military Command to anticipate the flood disaster in DKI Jakarta due to the impact of La Nina by providing 2 units of multipurpose tents and 1 unit of boat to Kodam Jaya.

The equipment assistance was handed over to the Director of Social Protection for Natural Disaster Victims (PSKBA), M. Safii Nasution, as a follow-up to the Ministry of Social's meeting with the Jaya Regional Military Command (Pangdam) Commander, Major General TNI Dudung Abdurrachman last November. The meeting discussed various possible impacts and anticipatory steps from the La Nina event, especially the DKI Jakarta flood, which is expected to occur in late December or early January next year.

“We have come here to fulfill our promise to the Kodam Jaya. When our boat is finished, we will provide it. When our COVID-19 tent is finished, we will hand it over. This is our promise, in less than a month it has been realized," said Safii when handing over the unit equipment to the Regional Military Commander at the Jayakarta Kodam, today (16/12).

Safii said that when a disaster occurs, the Ministry of Social Affairs becomes the leading sector and is fully responsible for meeting the needs of evacuees. Meanwhile, in the midst of a pandemic that is still ongoing, he continued, the Ministry of Social Affairs practically has an additional obligation to prevent the potential spread of COVID-19 if there are evacuees in the future.

"To anticipate that there will be no new clusters if there are evacuations, we innovate to make tents, how about 6x10 tents, equipped with bulkheads every 2 meters and the existing ventilation is able to prevent droplets in the evacuation," he explained.

Regarding COVID-19 tent units, which are still limited, he said additional units would be added if needed. "For the time being, we will give 2 units first, but we will think about adding them if needed later," added Safii.

Meanwhile, Pangdam Jaya Major General Dudung Abdurrachman revealed that although in handling natural disasters the TNI has always been at the forefront with Disaster Preparedness Cadets (Tagana), his party admitted that his unit had limitations in disaster management efforts.

“Our limitation is that the equipment we have is still in the TNI settings. The tents we have are only platoon tents, team tents, not settings for natural disasters. Even the rubber boats that we have, are settings for operations, not for handling natural disasters," said Dudung.

Due to these limitations, Dudung conveyed the need to collaborate with external parties or Ministries/Institutions, "We are trying to establish cooperation with external parties regarding this matter, including one of them is cooperation with the Ministry of Social Affairs which has very adequate equipment in handling natural disasters," he said again.

He added that it is necessary to look at the priority scale of possible surrounding threats that will arise. The threat that arises in DKI Jakarta, he said, is definitely flooding. The provision of assistance to Kodam Jaya in the form of equipment to support natural disaster management, especially floods, was considered an extraordinary step because the Ministry of Social Affairs was responsive to reading the strategic environment.

"I thank the Ministry of Social Affairs for the equipment that will be our provision in order to help the country's tasks, lest it be a disaster for which we have not prepared anticipatory steps, a lot of property loss, lest there are victims and die, because this is a shared responsibility," he said.

2 units of red and white multipurpose tents equipped with screens to prevent the spread of COVID-19 are worth Rp49,600,000 and 1 unit of boat is worth Rp69,800,000 so that the total assistance handed over by the Ministry of Social Affairs to Kodam Jaya today reached Rp119,400,000.
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