BNPB Head Asks 4 Provinces To Beware Of The Impact Of The La Nina Phenomenon: West Java, Central Java, East Java And South Sulawesi

JAKARTA - Head of the National Disaster Management Agency, Lt. Gen. Ganip Warsito, has asked four provinces namely West Java, Central Java, East Java and South Sulawesi to be aware of the impact of the La Nina phenomenon.

Ganip said the development of La Nina is predicted to occur until mid-February 2022, with high rainfall intensity and some areas are predicted to experience flooding.

"In these four provinces, at the lower levels of regencies and cities, vigilance and mitigation of the impact of La Nina is absolutely necessary," said Ganip at the Coordination Meeting on Preparedness to Face La Nina, quoted by Antara, Thursday, November 4.

Ganip explained data from 17,032 disaster events, the highest number in the 2016-2020 period was wet hydrometeorological disasters such as floods, landslides and extreme weather.

Seven provinces recorded the highest number of disasters, namely Aceh, West Sumatra, West Java, Central Java, East Java, South Kalimantan and South Sulawesi.

Meanwhile, in 2021, until November 3, 2,242 disaster events were recorded, the most dominating were floods, landslides, and tornadoes.

Ganip said that the districts/cities in Indonesia that need to be alerted include West Java, namely Bogor, Sukabumi, Bogor City, Bandung, and West Bandung. Then in Central Java, namely Cilacap, Semarang City, Banyumas, Magelang and Wonogiri.

Furthermore, in East Java, namely Ponorogo, Trenggalek, Situbondo, Jember, and Nganjuk. Finally in South Sulawesi, namely Banreng, Barru, Bone, Bulukumba, and Enrekang.

This is because disasters often occur in these areas in the 2016-2020 period.

Thus, Ganip asks the attention of all parties to be aware of hydrometeorological disasters from the impact of the La Nina phenomenon which coincides with the peak period of the rainy season.

"We have to know the threat, then we can determine the strategy to deal with the disaster. I am sure each BPBD (Regional Disaster Management Agency) has made a contingency plan," he said.

Ganip gave directions to anticipate the impact of La Nina to BPBDs in all regions including conducting preparedness meetings, preparing contingency plans, establishing emergency alert status if needed, carrying out preparedness activities.

Then strengthen community-based early warning systems, and ensure early warning communication networks. "This communication is very important, it is the lifeblood of disaster management. It is important for communication to carry out very tight coordination, and become a synergy between various ministries and institutions," he said.

In addition, to mitigate the potential for wet hydrometeorological disasters, the direction of the Head of BNPB includes planting vegetation, cleaning waterways, strengthening river embankments, strengthening slopes using both concrete and vegetation, maintaining surface drainage and pruning weathered trees.

Then, efforts to prepare for potential disasters include observing warnings from the Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG), establishing evacuation routes, establishing signs for disaster-prone areas, community-based early warning systems, community-based communication networks, and conducting evacuation simulations.