Vice President Asks One Victim Of The Marapi Eruption To Be Evacuated Immediately

Vice President Ma'ruf Amin/PHOTO: Dafi-VOI

DENPASAR - Vice President (Vice President) Ma'ruf Amin asked the National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB) to cooperate with relevant agencies to immediately evacuate victims of the eruption of Mount Marapi in West Sumatra.

"I think the first is for the victims to be evacuated immediately, cooperation of course BNPB, BPBD, as well as Agam Regency Government and Tanah Datar," said Vice President Ma'ruf Amin when met on the sidelines of the Appreciation and Submission of the Evaluation Results of the Government Agencies Performance Accountability System (SAKIP), Bureaucratic Reform (RB), and the 2023 Integrity Zone (ZI) in Nusa Dua, Bali, Wednesday, December 6.

The vice president also firmly forbade the public to climb to dangerous locations, considering that Mount Marapi is the most active volcano in Sumatra.

Vice President Ma'ruf Amin asked BPBD Agam and BPBD Tanah Datar to cooperate with the Center for Volcanology and Geological Hazard Mitigation (PVMBG) to tighten monitoring so that there is no warning if there is a potential disaster.

The statement was made in response to reports of theft of detection equipment at the Marapi Volcano Monitoring Station, which according to PVMBG has occurred several times.

"And as previously said there was something stolen, yes, that's so that the security (strengthened). So in the future things like this must be addressed more, things that prevent the possibility of climbing during dangerous situations," said Vice President Ma'ruf Amin.

Regarding disaster prevention efforts, Minister of Home Affairs (Mendagri) Tito Karnavian said that he would immediately hold a meeting with all regional heads to be more responsive in dealing with potential disasters in their respective regions.

"We are evaluating starting from an early warning system that must be considered steps for how the equipment is not stolen, guarded through cooperation with the police, with those who maintain conservation, forest police there," said Minister of Home Affairs Tito.

In addition to the early warning system, according to Tito, each region must also actively organize disaster response simulations, as has been done by West Sulawesi.

"Each region needs to drill (simulation) so that new incidents don't become responsive. So there are already steps if something happens, there is plan A, plan B," said the Minister of Home Affairs.

The impact of the eruption of Mount Marapi caused at least 23 victims to die, based on data from the West Sumatra Regional Police as of Tuesday (5/12) at 20.22 WIB. Of these, 11 of them have been identified by the West Sumatra Police team.

Until now, the search and rescue process is still being carried out by a joint team.

Meanwhile, according to the National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB) as of Tuesday morning, Mount Marapi was recorded to have experienced an eruption of 46 times.

The last eruption was recorded through a seismograph on Tuesday at 06.24 WIB with a maximum amplitude of 25.1 mm and a duration of 80 seconds. The volcano with an altitude of 2,891 meters above sea level is still in Alert status or Level II.

BPBD Agam Regency and Tanah Datar Regency together with a joint team continue to monitor the development of the eruption of Mount Marapi at the location to take quick action in handling the evacuation of residents if there is greater volcanic activity again.

People around Mount Marapi are asked not to carry out any activities at a distance of less than three kilometers from the summit. In addition, people in 4 nearby sub-districts are advised to reduce activities outside the home. In addition, people should wear masks when doing outdoor activities.

The public is also expected to remain calm and not be provoked by confusing issues and not spread information that cannot yet be verified. Please always follow directions and appeals from the local government.