PORTALJABAR, BANDUNG CITY - Acting Governor of West Java Bey Machmudin was the keynote speaker at a disaster preparedness webinar with the theme "Anticipating Wet Hydrometeorological Disasters (Floods, Flash Floods, Extreme Weather, Extreme Waves, Abrasion, and Landslides) in the West Java Province", online via video conference, Thursday (19/12/2024).

Opening the webinar, Bey revealed that based on predictions from the Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG), rainfall in the high and very high categories is predicted to dominate the West Java region during the period December 2024 - February 2025.

"This can result in 61 sub-districts or 9.73 percent of sub-districts in West Java having a high level of flood potential and 340 sub-districts or 54.23 percent of sub-districts having a medium level of flood potential," said Bey.

In addition, there is also a forecast of landslides in December 2024 issued by the Geological Agency of the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources.

"As many as 491 sub-districts or 78.31 percent of sub-districts in West Java have the potential for high land movement, especially areas bordering cliffs and slopes," he said.

One of the efforts of the West Java Provincial Government is to increase socialization and information on early warning weather forecasts and disaster risks so that they can take the necessary anticipatory steps for districts/cities down to sub-districts.

The West Java Provincial Government has also issued a Decree of the Governor of West Java concerning the Determination of Emergency Alert Status for Floods, Flash Floods, Extreme Weather, Extreme Waves, Abrasion, and Landslides in West Java Province, starting from October 8, 2024 - May 31, 2025.

"This is certainly not enough, but there needs to be real steps from every stakeholder in carrying out structural and non-structural mitigation," explained Bey.

He also revealed that several wet hydrometeorological disasters in West Java recently showed that disaster management requires the participation of all parties down to the village/sub-district level as the apparatus closest to the community.

It is hoped that disaster management efforts will be faster, more precise and integrated so as to minimize the impact of disasters.

Multi-stakeholder mobilization

Bey Machmudin also said that based on the Decree of the Head of the National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB) Number 308 of 2024 concerning the Disaster Management Cluster, one of the tasks of the disaster management cluster is to build strategic and effective multi-party collaboration and mobilization at the national, provincial and district/city levels at the pre-disaster, disaster emergency, and post-disaster stages.

"So this webinar is expected to increase our preparedness in facing future disasters and improve coordination between stakeholders and communities in vulnerable areas, and can minimize the potential impact of disasters," he added.

Acting Head of the West Java Regional Disaster Management Agency (BPBD) Anne Heramdianne Adnan said that the webinar that was held was part of the follow-up to the Ministerial Level Meeting held in Jakarta by the Coordinating Ministry for PMK, as well as weather information from BMKG so that preparedness for potential hydrometeorological disasters in West Java was needed.

Participants who attended the webinar included Heads of BPBD throughout West Java, Heads of Fire and Rescue Services throughout West Java, regional apparatus at the provincial/district/city level, stakeholders in the disaster management cluster starting from the Social Service, Health Service, Education Service, Satpol PP, Agriculture Service, Water Resources Service, Public Works and Spatial Planning Service, and Housing and Settlement Service.

The resource persons for this activity included the Head of the Center for Volcanology and Geological Disaster Mitigation (PVMBG), the Head of the Climatology Station, and the Head of the Bandung SAR Office.