TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The Aceh government stated their support to designate November 5 as World Tsunami Day.
“We fully support the UN bid to designate November 5 as World Tsunami Day,” said Aceh government Zaini Abdulah on Thursday, November 26.
Zaini said designating November 5 as Word Tsunami Day is well-founded because it has a historical background.
On November 5, 1854, a villager in an area that is now called Wakayama Prefecture, Japan, saved many lives.
“We hoped with UN recognition for tsunami day, international community will be more aware and concerned about mitigating tsunami disaster,” said Zaini.
According to Zaini, Aceh was also devastated by tsunami on December 26, 2004. Thousands of people lost their lives and the world greatly reacted to the disaster.
Zaini said geologically, Aceh is vulnerable to earthquake and tsunami. Aceh has been hit with frequent earthquakes in the past month.
He continued that Aceh citizens must keep raising their awareness towards threat of tsunami and increasing their skills in reducing the effect of disaster risk.
“We also call for the international community to be more concerned about tsunami. That’s why, we support November 5 as World Tsunami Day,” said Zaini.
ANTARA