Salam, Here is an op-ed published in The Jakarta Post, Saturday, 22 July 2006, focussing on the human and material losses caused by the latest natural disaster that struck Indonesia this week and how the government had reacted to it.
This article is purely my personal opinion, which has been toned down when it was published in The Post. If anyone of you are interested in reading the original, unedited article, you can read it in my personal weblog in the address below (http://ahmadqisai.blogspot.com) or in http://qisai-politics.blogspot.com (Moral Responsibility and Tsunami). Regards, Qisa'i http://www.thejakartapost.com/detaileditorial.asp? fileid=20060722.E02&irec=1 Govt at fault in tsunami Ahmad Qisa'i, Aligarh, India On July 17, a tsunami struck the southern coastline of Java Island. After a 7.7 magnitude earthquake centered in the seabed of the Indian Ocean rocked Jakarta and Bandung, the devastating waves struck, killing more than 500 people, injuring many others and devastating the livelihoods of the people living on the coast. Immediately after learning about this natural disaster from the media, I wrote in my weblog that "... the authorities immediately issued a tsunami warning to the people in the coastal areas, asking them to leave their homes for higher ground for any eventual tsunami." However, I was wrong. The government never issued a warning prior to the tsunami -- government officials made statements only after the disaster occurred. Two days later, it was reported in the media that the tsunami warning issued by the Japanese Meteorological Department and the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center in Hawaii after the 7.7 magnitude quake had reached the nation's technology minister, Kusmayanto Kadiman, through an SMS 20 minutes before the actual tsunami occurred. The minister, however, claims he received the SMS just after the tsunami struck. The government knew about the danger but chose to remain silent. No official warning was issued to the public. The officials said they were too busy monitoring the aftershocks of the quake. For the record, no tsunami warning system has been set up for the southern coast of Java. An Indonesian warning system was supposed to be up and running by now after the 2004 tsunami, the worst on record, but it has stalled. No clear reasons why have been given by the government. Had there been a tsunami warning system operational in the areas hit by the quake, and had the minister who knew about the danger of tsunami informed the public and asked them to immediately leave for higher ground, the huge human and material losses could have been avoided. Upon answering reporters' questions as to why no warning was issued Monday, Vice President Jusuf Kalla claimed there was no need to issue such a warning because most people had fled inland after the earthquake, fearing a tsunami. On the contrary, the strong quake felt in tall buildings in Jakarta was relatively negligible if one was at ground-level. Reports said that many people on the coastal areas felt only a slight tremor, if anything at all. Nor were there reports of people on the southern coast fleeing en masse to higher ground before the tsunami. Only some residents and tourists in the area recognized the signs of the tsunami -- when the sea receded suddenly and a wall of water approached. They immediately fled to higher ground for safety. It was a purely natural instinct -- of saving oneself from danger -- and not from any tsunami warning or education program issued by the government. However, these natural signs and reflex instincts failed to save many others. This government's lack of action to inform the public about the imminent danger of tsunamis makes it morally responsible for this natural disaster. Aceh's disaster should have taught the government some valuable lessons about how to avoid a similar catastrophe. But it seemed the government did not act on the advice of experts who had told of the risk of further tidal waves. Ministers excused their inaction, saying they were "busy monitoring the aftershocks" of the quake and claiming that "there was no need to inform the public" because "most people had fled inland after the earthquake, fearing a tsunami". Kusmayanto and Kalla should at least apologize -- it is inconceivable they would ever resign -- for this moral failing. They did not do their jobs and the public has had to pay for it with their lives and with the loss of property. The writer is a doctorate student in political science at Aligarh Muslim University in Aligarh, India. His personal weblog is http://ahmadqisai.blogspot.com ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> Yahoo! Groups gets a make over. 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