THERE was a telling piece of news amid media reports of the destruction of the Indonesian coastal town of Palu six days ago. A powerful earthquake combined with a devastating tsunami turned earth to liquid under people’s feet before the inundation struck, killing upwards of 1,500 people and affecting the lives of at least 1.6 million others.
Journalists who watched the police and security forces patrolling the ruins of this once vibrant and populous town saw desperate citizens who had lost everything picking through the ruins of shops and homes taking food and water and anything that could sustain them. And while they did so, the police and soldiers turned a blind eye. Their vigilance was reserved for criminal looters who were stealing cash, valuables or equipment.
The tragedy is that fully six days after this catastrophe, the United Nations is reporting that at least 200,000 people are still in urgent need of help. The authorities in Jakarta are clearly doing all they can to send aid to the stricken area; however, with the best will in the world, their efforts cannot be seen as anything like adequate. The 2004 tsunami, with three successive waves, the second 30 meters tall, struck the Bandar Aceh coast of Sumatra leaving some 300,000 Indonesians dead or missing. At that time, the government struggled to cope with the sheer scale of the disaster. It promised that lessons would be learnt. However, two years ago, when another smaller earthquake struck the same region, killing around 400 people and leaving tens of thousands homeless, there was local anger at Jakarta’s dilatory reaction. Similar criticism is now being expressed at what is seen as a further lackluster response by the central government to the Palu tragedy.
Indonesia, the world’s most populous Muslim nation, has a strong and thrusting economy. Growth has rarely dropped below five percent in any quarter for the last four years. There are, however, many claims on the government’s budget. The administration of president Joko Widodo could argue that there are more pressing social, health and welfare priorities than preparing to cope with natural disasters.
This said, Indonesia is one of 14 countries that sits on the so-called Pacific Rim of fire, where some 90 percent of the world’s volcanic eruptions take place. The government, therefore, cannot ignore the Damoclean sword of disaster that hangs constantly over its citizens.
Each of these countries needs to be fully ready to throw all the resources it has prepared in advance at the location of the latest calamity. This said, the international community also has to be far more proactive in readying itself to respond to disaster. There are scores of international charities around the world poised to bring in everything from tents and mobile hospitals to dogs trained to sniff out survivors beneath the rubble.
All of these initiatives are entirely laudable. But every time they are called upon to help, UN officials on the ground working with the local authorities, always struggle to mobilize and direct aid to where it is most needed, often in locations where roads and other communications have been wrecked. Serious consideration must surely now be given to the establishment of a well-funded and resourced multinational standing force of rescuers, trained and equipped to act immediately in the golden hours following a catastrophe.
