UNAIR NEWS – East Java Vice Governor Emil Elestianto Dardak was the keynote speaker at the national seminar on Disaster Anticipation and Management initiated by Universitas Airlangga. The national seminar took place on Wednesday, October 8, at Garuda Mukti Hall on the 5th floor, UNAIR Management Office.
The national seminar was not only attended by UNAIR academics, but also representatives from various disaster-related agencies in Surabaya.
In his presentation, Emil revealed that the matter of disaster mitigation should not only be handled through a unisectoral approach, but also a multicultural and multisectoral approach. It means all stakeholders must be involved in it, both the government sector and other sectors. According to him, universities must also be actively involved.
“All stakeholders in the government and other sectors, especially higher education institutions, should become a pressure group to encourage attention in disaster mitigation,” Emil said.
On the other hand, Emil explained, there are obstacles experienced by the government in carrying out disaster prevention efforts. One reason is the lack of support from the community. According to him, in mitigating disasters, the local community still have their own interests.
For example, there is the issue of protected forests now planted with coffee in East Java. The local government wants 20 percent of the area to be planted with macadamia plants to maintain protected forest and prevent landslides. However, local residents refused.
“We intend to plant as much as 20 percent macadamia plants in the area to prevent landslides. But the community rejected the reason,” said Emil.
“Thus we need social analysis to explain to the public well about this disaster mitigation effort,” he added.
In East Java, according to Emil, several programs have been implemented to mitigate disasters. One of them is by increasing the number of Disaster Alert Village (KSB). The goal is to prepare the community for disasters.
Emil hoped that this seminar will have a real impact on reducing the impact of disasters and maintaining the benefit of the community. “Hopefully what is discussed in this seminar will have a real impact on reducing the disaster risks,” he concluded. (*)
Author: Sugeng Andrean
Editor: Binti Q. Masruroh
