Indonesia Is Prone To Disasters, BMKG Explains The Importance Of A Hydrometeorological Multi-Disaster Early Warning System

Head of BMKG Dwikorita Karnawati/DOK ANTARA

JAKARTA - Head of the Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) Dwikorita Karnawati appreciated the PDI-P's move to launch the Geo-Hydrometeorological Multi-Disaster Early Warning System. According to him, this system is needed to mitigate natural disasters that often occur.

This was conveyed when he was present virtually at the launch of the Geo-Hydrometeorological Multi-Hazard Early Warning System held by the PDIP DPP.

Dwikorita said a culture to build preparedness to face various disasters that threaten Indonesia is very much needed. Moreover, reflecting on the experience in early 2021, there were a number of natural disasters that had occurred such as floods and earthquakes that required preparedness.

"So we really support the early warning system that will be launched," Dwikorita said in an event broadcast on PDI Perjuangan YouTube, Wednesday, August 4.

He explained that Indonesia is located in the ring of fire, a three-way plate collision area and is in the area between two oceans and two continents. This then makes Indonesia vulnerable to natural disasters and the impacts of climate change.

Dwikorita also said that his party continues to learn from developed countries in disaster management. This is in accordance with the direction that is often conveyed by the Chairperson of the PDIP Megawati Soekarnoputri.

BMKG, he continued, even learned from Japan to deal with earthquakes. The reason is that the country has a high level of safety when dealing with earthquake disasters.

In addition, BMKG also learns from China, which has taken advantage of the difference in earthquake waves to be able to save themselves. This system, said Dwikorita, has also been used in Japan.

He explained that there was a 10 second pause between the primary and secondary waves when the earthquake occurred. Between those 10 seconds the nuclear system and transportation system were turned off so that a warning to the public was delivered at that time.

"We are in the process of developing the technology, we are just learning the science. God willing, in 2 years this can be realized," said Dwikorita.

Even so, he did not deny that there were a number of challenges faced by BMKG in building a culture of preparedness. Based on research, the early warning system built by BMKG is actually quite fast but many people who accept it do not respond well.

According to Dwikorita, many people who received the information did not understand the meaning of the red, yellow, green colors which were the alert symbols sent. Not only that, many fishermen and ship captains do not understand the graphics sent by the BMKG.

"The challenge is how from a cultural point of view, this early warning is understood, and it encourages attitudes about how to be able to help yourself and those around you to be safe. What is clear, for us, is that no matter how high the technology is, if it is not developed from a cultural perspective, it is useless," he said.

In addition, Dwikorita also expressed his gratitude to Megawati Soekarnoputri for contributing to the development of the BMKG, which is now an independent body directly under the President.

Not only that, he also said that Megawati was not a person who could only speak but set an example and immediately went down to handle disaster management. "This affects our spirit, so that every time we have a disaster, we feel that it must be done, the highest leader must step down and not give orders from behind the table," he concluded.