Editorial

Women's and infants' needs are seldom addressed. (Photo: AFP)

Indonesia Quake Relief Efforts in Need Of Emergency Help

Once again the nation is attempting to recover from a major natural disaster. Last week’s 7.3-magnitude earthquake that hit West Java and the western part of Central Java has left scores of people dead and thousands homeless. Many of these people are crying out for help but relief has been slow getting to them.

While the government has been quick to launch aid efforts, these have been erratic and hit-and-miss. Many affected areas remain cut off from aid.

A trip to the region shows a basic pattern repeating itself. Aid, in abundance, reaches the areas with easy access such as those along main roads. But inland areas, despite often suffering the most from the natural disaster, are left on their own for days before help reaches them. Government aid is often delivered only to the subdistrict level, leaving local authorities to distribute the relief. But it is frequently forgotten that local authorities often do not have the means or the capacity to deal with managing relief.

In disaster after disaster in recent years, we have come to see survivors setting up their own begging bowls on the side of busy roads to get the aid their communities need.

Government relief efforts have also remained unchanged, with officials delivering the same items again and again over an extended period. Tents, blankets, food, drinks and medicines are necessary in the earliest periods of relief efforts. But the assistance should be adjusted according to the needs in the field. Women’s and infants’ needs are very seldom addressed.

Days after disaster has hit, the main concerns of survivors are no longer confined to merely filling their stomachs but also to restarting their lives. And this invariably begins with rebuilding the homes they have lost. But the slow-moving government machine usually reacts too late, continuing to deliver food, clothes and medicines when the real needs have changed to sanitation facilities, building materials, access to bank credits and so forth.

All of us are aware that it falls on the government to care for its people in times of crisis, and that recovery can often take a long time.

This is not the first natural disaster to strike Indonesia nor will it be the last. It is therefore urgent that the government establish a central coordinating body that can direct disaster relief efforts more effectively. Such a body should include both government officials as well as representatives from international and domestic relief agencies.

It is time we change our approach to how we carry out disaster relief. Too many lives are lost due to the ineffective manner in which aid is dispensed. Indonesia must learn from other nations in this regard and be open to input from both domestic as well as foreign experts.

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