NGOs Criticize Draft Disaster Manual

March 19, 2009
Dessy Sagita

NGOs Criticize Draft Disaster Manual

A coalition of civil society organizations on Wednesday criticized a draft of the natural disaster risk analysis manual written by the Natural Disaster Mitigation Agency, or BNPB, and demanded that the agency revise it.

“We have perused the draft thoroughly and found some flaws that need to be revised immediately,” said Patricius, a representative from Oxfam, which is a member of the group.

He said the draft was too scientific because the team appointed by BNPB to write it consisted entirely of engineers, and it appeared unbalanced as it did not take into account the social perspective from sociology experts or civil society organizations.

“It was arranged based on complicated equations which are probably difficult to implement on the provincial and district levels,” he said.

The draft was part of BNPB’s natural disaster management program. It was compiled so regional governments can refer to it when faced with emergency situations.

Based on the manual, all public infrastructure projects would be required by law to conform to national standards.

However, Patricius said the draft compiled by the BNPB team did not consider the other impacts a disaster would have on different people or situations.

“The impact of a disaster will be different for rich people compared to poor people,” he said.

Eko Teguh Paripurno, a spokesman from the Disaster Research Education and Management organization, or DREAM, another member of the group, said the analysis should take into account the “vulnerability level” of an area, including a proper assessment of the risk and potential for disaster.

“The manual should be a guide for planning, executing, and evaluating a development program; that is why it should be detailed and cover every factor, and be easy to understand,” he said, adding that the draft ran the risk of being misinterpreted.

The BNPB said it would take into account the group’s suggestions when revising the draft and invited some of its representatives to take part in the process.

“It is better to delay the launch than publish an incomplete and imperfect manual that may risk many lives.” said Sugeng Triutomo, the agency’s deputy of disaster prevention and preparedness.

Sugeng said the manual was expected to be completed by June and would be distributed to regional governments subject to further review.

Sumber: JakartaGlobe