2018 Lombok Earthquake: When the Government Ngotot did not determine the status of National Disaster

A motorcyclist passes near a collapsed house after an earthquake in Bentek Village, Pemenang District, Tanjung, North Lombok, West Nusa Tenggara, Monday (6/8/2018). (ANTARA/Ahmad Subaidi)

JAKARTA - The 2018 Lombok earthquake disaster is not easily forgotten in the historical memory. The disaster with a magnitude of 7.0 on the Richter Scale (SR) devastated the entire Lombok and Sumbawa Islands. Hundreds of people died. Buildings that were destroyed were littered. People lost their homes.

Hundreds of thousands of people have been displaced. The disaster has received attention from all Indonesian people. Most of them asked the government to raise the status of the Lombok earthquake to a national disaster. However, the government has another answer and chooses to be condemned.

Lombok Island, West Nusa Tenggara (NTB) has been hit by two major earthquakes in a year. The first earthquake occurred on July 29, 2018. The earthquake's strength reached 6.4 SR. The strength of the earthquake caused panic on the island of Lombok and the surrounding islands.

The death toll reached dozens of people. However, those who were displaced reached tens of thousands. The effects of the earthquake were many among the residents who were reluctant to stay at home. They set up emergency tents, or stayed on the porch of their homes.

They were afraid of aftershocks. Indeed, the aftershocks haunted the people of Lombok many times. Later, the people of Lombok prepared to return home. They considered the situation to be safe.

In fact, the earthquake with a magnitude of 7.0 SR occurred on August 5, 2018. The earthquake made the whole of Lombok to the part of Sumbawa and Bali islands panic. The earthquake was centered on land.

The result is that most of Lombok is in ruins. Those who died reached hundreds of people. Hundreds of thousands more people were displaced. The situation is getting worse with the many buildings that have been destroyed. Those who lost their homes were not few.

As a result, all Indonesian people asked the Joko Widodo (Jokowi) government to move quickly to help. The people of Lombok need recovery. However, the government is slow. This condition makes people ask Jokowi to immediately raise the status of the Lombok earthquake as a national disaster. The goal is to make the recovery fast and focused.

"State action is embodied in two bases. First through regulation. Second through the budget. Through regulation, the status of NTB disaster needs to be reviewed. It is upgraded to a national disaster, so that the state is fully involved through its giant structure in solving the Lombok disaster," said Deputy Chairman of the House of Representatives of the Republic of Indonesia, Fahri Hamzah, as quoted on the Twitter/X @fahrihamzah page, August 19, 2018.

Those who have voiced to the government to declare the Lombok earthquake as a national disaster have increased. The status of a national disaster is considered to make it clear the distribution of aid funds and coordination of handling earthquakes. Post-earthquake recovery was immediately carried out.

Moreover, the Lombok earthquake is already eligible for the national disaster criteria if you look at the losses, damage, number of victims, and the social and economic impacts caused. However, the government is looking in another direction.

Cabinet Secretary Pramono Anung emphasized that the status of a national disaster is actually more difficult for Indonesia. He considers that the central and regional governments can still handle disasters themselves.

The confidence is because President Jokowi is seen as issuing instructions to accelerate the handling of disasters that are measurable. Pramono also assessed that when the national disaster status was rolled out, Indonesia would lose.

This condition is because the national disaster status seems to explain one Indonesia that is affected by a disaster. This means that the status can come from travel warnings (travel bans) from many countries. Foreign governments will ban their citizens from Indonesia.

The government's decision was also criticized by many parties. Many consider the government to have great ability in its mouth. However, the realization in the field is different. The government is seen as only calculating losses and gains.

The status of a national disaster is to carry out a rapid recovery process for disaster victims. Moreover, the most important thing about the existence of a country is when it comes to the livelihood of its people can be lifted.

"If we declare a national disaster, it means that the disaster is the entire Republic of Indonesia. And that is a travel warning for all countries, not only to Lombok, but to Bali. The impact is extraordinary, which is not known to the public."

"So the handling is like a national disaster. The Presidential Decree gives mandate, authority to the Minister of PUPR and BNPB to handle it," said Pramono as quoted by the BBC Indonesia website, August 21, 2018.