ADRA facilitates the development of guidelines and protocols for Emergency Preparedness SOP in Pandeglang Regency. The activities that will be carried out to develop guidelines and emergency preparedness protocols are coordination and consultation meetings as well as continuous focus group discussions (FGD). There were 34 participants attending the Focus Group Discussion from 15 organizations.
“There is a need for coordination prior to a disaster, so that the latest data or information can be known by all relevant agencies. Creating an Emergency Response Team represented by each agency can be a solution for sharing data among them,” said Deni from BPBD Pandeglang.
Rahmat from BPBD Pandeglang, added “The safety of livestock during a disaster is also part of disaster management, and it has been regulated by the government since the eruption of Mount Merapi, where communities were reluctant to evacuate because they didn’t want to leave their livestock behind.”
The participants agree that it is important to coordinate various agencies during the Pre-Disaster phase in order to regularly share information. Building a disaster perspective for the community and government apparatus is essential to raise awareness and preparedness for disasters. The participants agree to establish a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for drought preparedness, considering the following factors:
- Pandeglang Regency does not have a foundation for implementing a Drought Disaster Alert or Emergency Response yet.
- The climate has entered the dry season, which needs to be anticipated as it poses a risk of drought.
- Drought has the risk of occurring every year during the dry season.
“Behavioral changes and perspectives in the community regarding emergency response SOPs need to be strengthened. Good approaches to the community are necessary so that they can experience better impacts.” said Ahmad Farid from Desk Relawan Banten.
Tatang Rusmana, as Coordinator of Data & Information Services of Serang BMKG stated his hope through this project, “If the SOP has been well-structured, it is expected that all relevant parties will synergize and collaborate to address the undesirable impacts of drought disasters.”
The closing statement delivered by Aminuddin Magatani, the Project Manager of FFACT project:
“The development of the Standard Operational Procedure of Emergency Preparedness is a step towards assisting all government agencies (OPD) in determining the actions to be taken when facing threats of slow onset disasters. Whatever type of disaster we have collectively agreed upon, it will not be in vain because this is just the beginning and can serve as a reference for developing SOPs for other types of disaster threats, especially those present in the Pandeglang Regency.”
