APD | Indonesia holds tsunami resiliency education for people in coastal areas

By APD writer Aditya Nugraha

JAKARTA, Aug. 14 (APD) - Indonesia intensifies program aimed at educating people in coastal areas in anticipating tsunami so as to address public safety from the deadly disaster.

The program called Disaster Resilient Village, or Destana in Indonesian language abbreviation is coordinated by Indonesia’s National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB), featured with evacuation drills to address public safety.

It involves the active participation of regional governments, universities, society, the private sector, and the media.

“The point is, residents must fully aware of the tsunami disaster that may occur anytime. They must understand, capable to address their safety and be resilient in the disaster,” Doni said to address the program held in the coastal city of Serang in Banten province on Tuesday.

In the future, BNPB Chief Doni Monardo said the program would be continued in Destana-themed regular public service activities, carried out by university students in villages identified prone from tsunami disaster across the country.

The program initiated last month was participated by at least 42 thousands residents and some 3,700 village officials from 512 coastal villages in 24 regencies and municipalities in East Java, Central Java, West Java, and Banten provinces.

Indonesia that sits in earth’s ring of the fire fault line is prone from earthquake, volcano eruption whose impacts often prompting tsunami in several areas.

In late 2004 a deadly tsunami hit Aceh and North Sumatra provinces after a 9.3 magnitude earthquake in the Indian Ocean, killing at least 175 thousand in the two provinces. The tsunami killed a total of 227 thousand in 14 countries sharing coasts in the Indian Ocean.

Indonesia also saw a deadly tsunami that followed a 7.5 magnitude earthquake in Central Sulawesi cities of Palu and Donggala in September last year, killing over 4,300 in the two coastal areas.

Another tsunami prompted by the eruption of a volcano in Sunda Strait has killed at least 420 people in Banten’s Serang and Pandeglang and in Lampung province.

Several high magnitude earthquakes occurred in several areas across the nation that made Indonesian authorities issued tsunami warnings since then.

(ASIA PACIFIC DAILY)