Disaster Management Law in Indonesia: From Response to Preparedness?

Abstract

Indonesia is one of the world’s most disaster-prone countries. However, it has not traditionally allocated sufficient resources to disaster prevention and mitigation activities, focusing instead on disaster response. Much progress has been made, inspired largely by the 2004 Boxing Day tsunami and several subsequent earthquakes elsewhere in Indonesia. In 2007, a new Disaster Management Law was enacted. It shifted the paradigm in disaster management towards prevention and mitigation, and required the establishment of a national Disaster Management Authority and Regional Disaster Management Authorities. The Law is a significant advance, but many problems remain, including the overlapping jurisdictions of the central and regional governments as well as difficulties in coordinating disaster management activities. These must be overcome to prevent avoidable loss of life and property resulting from natural and human-made disasters.