BNPB: Tackling Flood, Landslide Must Not Create Social Problems

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Endeavors to tackle the root causes of flooding and landslides in Bogor District and Puncak resort areas, West Java, must not create social problems in society, the National Disaster Mitigation Agency's (BNPB's) official stated.

"We must seek solutions that do not trigger social problems, such as the local people losing their jobs," the agency's head, Doni Monardo, told journalists at the Halim Perdanakusuma Air Force's base in East Jakarta on Saturday.

Monardo, who had recently returned from an aerial observation of the flooding- and landslide-swamped areas in Bogor District aboard a helicopter, remarked that massive landslides had occurred.

The landslides resembled "melted ice-cream" owing to their massive spread.

Drawing reference to the result of his aerial surveillance in the upstream areas, he spoke of having seen hundreds of buildings, including the tents of illegal miners.

Monardo stated that President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) had ordered the BNPB and the Environment and Forestry Ministry to conduct reforestation and revitalize the river banks that had become farming and housing areas.

"We have invited experts and consulted with several related parties. Experts from the Bogor Institute of Agriculture (IPB) are expected to map the areas that need to be planted with economically-and-ecologically important plants," he stated.

Among the targeted plants are durian and avocado, he noted. During the aerial surveillance, Monardo was accompanied by Deputy Police Chief Commissioner General Gatot Eddy Pramono and Bogor District Head Ade Yasin.

Early this month, several areas in the provinces of Banten, Jakarta, and West Java were swamped by flash floods and landslides. The BNPB recorded that the catastrophe killed at least 60 people.

The floods, caused by high-intensity rainfall for several days, submerged several areas of 18 sub-districts in Bekasi District, 17 sub-districts in Jakarta, and 13 sub-districts in Bogor District and Tangerang City respectively.

The disaster also affected 12 sub-districts in Bekasi City, 11 sub-districts in Depok City, and six sub-districts in Lebak District, Bogor City, and Tangerang Selatan City respectively.

Consequently, floodwaters, submerging houses, led to the forced displacement of several hundred thousand people in cities, such as Bekasi and Jakarta, the BNPB recently revealed.

ANTARA