Jakarta, The Indonesia Post – Indonesian President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) asked the Regional Government (Pemda) to incorporate disaster risk into development plans so that it is clear which disaster-prone locations should not become investment targets.
“The area must include disaster risk in its development plan, in its investment plan. There is a plan,” said President Jokowi when opening the National Coordination Meeting on Disaster Management, in Jakarta, Thursday.
By incorporating disaster risk into development plans, said Jokowi, there will be clear information on locations that may or may not become development targets.
This, said Jokowi, would also make it easier for officers in the field to take action on developments that violate regional spatial plans and risk increasing disaster risk.
“Implementation, especially in the field, there are people who want to get up, ‘uh, it’s not allowed’, there are people who want to get up, ‘uh, this is prone to landslides, it’s not allowed’,” he said.
Jokowi explained that he often saw buildings standing near the river even though that location was a flood area every year.
“Obviously there is a river that floods every year on its banks and instead there are buildings, people build buildings there in droves and leave it alone. This is what I often see in the field,” he said.
Therefore, Jokowi also asked the regional government through the Regional Development Planning Agency (Bappeda) to oversee the implementation of the development.
“I see that Bappeda exists, the use of Bappeda is planning. But sometimes there is like planning but implementation in the field is not monitored nor controlled. Our weakness is there,” said President Jokowi. (mhn/bbs)
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