Megawati urges the government to map flood-prone areas in Sumatra so that it does not happen again.

Chairman of the General Association of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle Megawati Soekarnoputri in a briefing at the Disaster Mitigation and Victim Assistance seminar held by PDIP Baguna in Jakarta. (ANTARA/HO-PDIP)

JAKARTA - The General Chair of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDIP) Megawati Soekarnoputri asked the government to conduct a detailed data collection on areas affected by floods and landslides in Aceh, North Sumatra, and West Sumatra.

"I ask the government, what is happening now must be recorded; which areas are affected. Don't let us forget it after it is clean. It can't be like that," Megawati said in a seminar on Disaster Mitigation and Victim Assistance held by the PDIP Disaster Management Agency (Baguna) in Jakarta, Friday, December 19.

Megawati also highlighted the vital role of the Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) in disaster mitigation. He reminded the importance of the accuracy of weather data and mapping of the region.

"Was BMKG present? I want them to talk about maps. Keep in mind, BMKG is a body that I built (strengthened) first because I realized that this institution is very necessary. We are not a continental country, we are a very dynamic archipelago country," he said.

Regarding assistance for disaster victims in Sumatra, Megawati emphasized that her party would not provide assistance in the form of cash, but goods or in natura.

"Mom won't give money. What do you want to buy if the condition is a disaster? So what I give is in-kind assistance. The logistics has been listed and collected by the party structure," explained the 5th President of the Republic of Indonesia.

He explained that the assistance would be collected first before being distributed in a coordinated manner through the Head of the DPC in the affected areas.

"The head of the DPC is the person in charge. The assistance provided ranges from rice, cooking oil, eggs, salted fish, instant noodles, to LPG gas and generators. In addition, there are daily clothes for men, women, children, to complete cooking equipment," said Megawati.