Basarnas Discourse On The Establishment Of One-Stop SAR In Eastern Indonesia

Head of Basarnas Kusworo after the launch of Quick Action TV in Jakarta, Friday (29/11/2024). (ANTARA)

The National Search and Rescue Agency (Basarnas) proposes to form a one-stop search and rescue or SAR officer to respond quickly to any reports of disasters in the outermost areas, such as eastern Indonesia.

"This proposal will be submitted specifically to the Minister of Home Affairs (Mendagri) and other technical ministries/agencies in the near future," said Head of Basarnas Kusworo when met after the launch of the Quick Action TV Basarnas in Jakarta, Friday, November 29, was confiscated by Antara.

He explained that the one-stop SAR officer in question is to combine Basarnas personnel in one office with personnel from the Regional Disaster Management Agency (BPBD) and a number of other SAR potentials in each district/city.

Basarnas assesses that this proposal is important to be realized immediately, so that Basarnas personnel can share experiences about the search and rescue of disaster victims, including the use of the equipment needed.

"They will be very relied on to respond quickly to reports of disaster events. But there are few problems with them (BPBD), sometimes their competence does not come in for SAR, so they still often have to wait for the Basarnas team first even though help must be fast," said Kusworo.

Kusworo acknowledged that the limited number of personnel, equipment, and wide landscapes is also extreme, it is still a challenge for Basarnas to respond quickly to emergency handling of natural and non-natural disasters, such as transportation accidents in eastern Indonesia.

Basarnas currently only has 11 SAR offices spread across a number of major cities in eastern Indonesia, out of a total of 43 existing SAR Office representatives, so that efforts to handle the first disaster incident rely on the potential of local SAR such as BPBD or TNI/Polri.

This condition is as happened in floods accompanied by landslides that killed five residents in Sugapa District, Intan Jaya Regency, Papua, and a rapid boat fire at Bobong Regional Port, Taliabu Island Regency, North Maluku, which resulted in the death of five passengers, including former Morotai Island Regent Benny Laos recently.

Basarnas had difficulty responding to the two incidents because the distance between the nearest SAR Office to the location of the incident took about 18-20 hours, so the incident was handled by police officers, the TNI, and the local BPBD, who in fact did not understand the SAR technique.

"Our evaluation is done, so that in the future it will be even better and quick action is important because the opportunity or golden time for disaster victims is found safe only 3x24 hours after the incident," said Kusworo.