Tagana, the Form of Community-Based Disaster Management

JAKARTA (July 27, 2020) - To accelerate the resolution of disaster management, the Minister of Social Affairs, Juliari P. Batubara ensures that the Ministry of Social Affairs uses a community-based approach by involving community elements throughout Indonesia. Disaster Preparedness Cadets (Tagana), called the Minister of Social Affairs, is a concrete manifestation of community-based disaster management.
 
"We from the Ministry of Social Affairs ensure that this disaster management system must be community-based and must be more effective in the future," said the Minister of Social Affairs in front of the Tagana Coordinators of all provinces in Indonesia through virtual media in Jakarta, Monday (27/7).
 
The community-based disaster management system, said Juliari, focuses on the role of the community. According to him, education to the community is necessary to introduce them to natural phenomena so that they can be friendly with the environment in which they live. This is important considering that most parts of Indonesia are prone to disasters ranging from flash floods, landslides, earthquakes, to tsunamis.
 
“The community must be educated from an early age how to understand the dangers and signals of impending disasters, whether natural or social disasters. At least, they can do early detection so they can save themselves,” added the former head of IMI for two terms.
 
The Ministry of Social Affairs continues to strengthen community-based disaster mitigation through Tagana and Disaster Alert Villages. “They are tasked with educating the public about the signs of a disaster and how to save themselves and carry out evacuations. They are also at the forefront of helping the community,” explained Juliari.
 
Data from the Ministry of Social Affairs noted that currently, 39,004 people have been recruited to become members of Tagana and as many as 638 villages have been confirmed as Disaster Alert Villages.
 
In Law no. 24 of 2007 Chapter I Article 1 number 9, mitigation is a series of efforts to reduce disaster risk, both through physical development, as well as awareness and capacity building to face disaster threats.
 
However, the government continues to improve disaster management support by revising the Disaster Law which involves many parties. "This is important to provide improvements in disaster management," said Ari.
 
This father of two children also welcomed the cooperation carried out by the Directorate of Social Protection for Natural Disaster Victims (PSKBA) with a number of countries, such as Japan, in disaster management. "I welcome this cooperation, because cooperation can improve our ability in disaster management," he added.
 
Tagana Joins in Tackling the Spread of COVID-19
 
In addition to being involved in handling natural disasters, Tagana was also asked to participate in handling social disasters, such as the spread of the COVID-19 outbreak, which is still happening. The Minister of Social Affairs explained that currently the cases in Indonesia have exceeded the cases in the country of origin of the outbreak, namely China.
 
“Currently, what I see, our society is not yet disciplined. I often see people still not maintaining health protocols. It's not normal yet. If we look at the graph, we are high (the number of cases), we have already crossed the 100,000 (cases) mark," explained the Minister of Social Affairs.
 
The Minister of Social Affairs assessed that it was deemed necessary for Tagana to cooperate with the security forces to be actively involved in law enforcement matters to people who did not comply with health protocols. “If necessary, Tagana together with security forces disperse crowds of people who are not wearing masks. Of course, by first reporting this to the police, "said Ari.
 
On the same occasion, the Director General of Social Protection and Security (Linjamsos), PepenNazaruddin admitted that he would improve Tagana's ability to cope with disasters that occurred. Therefore, said Pepen, the Ministry of Social Affairs will certify them.
 
"In order to increase the capacity of Tagana, we will cooperate with various parties, including the Ministry of Social Affairs Education, Research and Social Counseling Agency (Badiklit) in standardizing their capabilities," said Pepen.
 
In addition, Pepen will also propose a revision of the Regulation of the Minister of Social Affairs regarding the role and existence of Tagana because there are many activities that have not been included in the regulation. "In this revision, later Tagana will be educated how to become a leader, coordinate with various agencies, to have conceptual skills and technical skills," explained Pepen.
 
Not only that, the Ministry of Social Affairs will also carry out a Tagana monitoring system by including the educational background of each personnel. For this reason, all Tagana members are asked to submit educational data for classification as soon as possible. "With this monitoring system, we can find out how big Tagana's capabilities are and what kind of further training will be provided in the future," said Pepen.
 
Before the Minister of Social Affairs gave directions, the session of the Minister of Social Affairs meeting with the Tagana Coordinators of all provinces in Indonesia was started by explaining the current conditions, as well as activities that have been or are being carried out in their respective regions. In addition to connected virtual media, the meeting session was also broadcast live through the social media channels of the Directorate General of Social Protection and Security. By the end of the broadcast, it had been watched more than 13 thousand times, or equivalent to 30% of the total number of Tagana personnel in Indonesia.