Jakarta – The Indonesian Legal Aid Foundation (YLBHI) and the western regional Legal Aid Foundation (LBH) are urging the administration of President Prabowo Subianto to immediately declare a national disaster emergency status in response to the massive floods that have hit Aceh, North Sumatra and West Sumatra.
"Declaring a national disaster emergency status is important so that the focus of disaster management also becomes the responsibility of the central government", read an official LBH written statement on Monday December 1.
Aside from this, a national disaster emergency status would grant the National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB) and the Regional Disaster Management Agency (BPBD) through the government the authority to mobilise human resources, equipment, logistics and to manage and take responsibility for funds and materials as well as command over and to coordinate relevant agencies.
This is to ensure swift and accurate disaster management, including rescue, evacuation, basic needs and restoration of vital infrastructure and facilities damaged by the disaster.
The LBH noted that the flood disaster in the three provinces has had significant impacts, such as a high number of fatalities and missing persons, many isolated regencies and cities, thousands of people forced to evacuate and lose their homes, increasingly limited logistics and a shortage of basic necessities.
In addition, the LBH also recorded reports of ineffective distribution of humanitarian aid, looting at several grocery stores and high fuel prices.
"This increasingly severe disaster situation is being met with the limited capacity of local governments to respond quickly and appropriately. These circumstances are sufficient reasons for the central government to immediately declare a national disaster emergency", wrote the LBH.
According to the LBH, there is no reason for the central government not to declare a national disaster emergency status on the pretext of potential disruptions to the state budget, bureaucratic administration and political issues. The safety of the ordinary people is the highest law.
"We must not allow the slow response to the disaster in the three provinces of Sumatra to increase the number of victims", the LBH asserted.
Moratorium on all concession permits in forest areas
The landslides and floods, according to the LBH, are inextricably linked to the impacts of the climate crisis, which is linked to deforestation and the massive granting of concession permits to mining and plantation companies operating in the Sumatra region.
"This demonstrates the government's failure in managing forest areas which has been haphazard by granting or at least facilitating permits for plantation and mining businesses, as well as the rampant land conversion for hydroelectric power projects scattered throughout Sumatra", stated the LBH.
In West Sumatra for example, hundreds of thousands of hectares of forest were destroyed between 2020 and 2024. This is systemic and ongoing, as evidenced by satellite imagery showing damage in conservation areas and protected forests, such as the hilly areas of the Kerinci Seblat National Park.
Illegal mining and illegal logging have further worsened the situation, particularly in the Dharmasraya, Agam, Tanah Datar and Pesisir Selatan regions.
This deforestation has resulted in the loss of trees to absorb water, resulting in massive runoffs that leads to flooding and waterlogging, as in Padang city, West Sumatra.
"The government, through the Ministry of Forestry, the Ministry of Agrarian Affairs and Spatial Planning (ATR BPN), the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources (ESDM), and the Environment Ministry, must also take responsibility to ensure this does not recur by immediately conducting a total evaluation and imposing a moratorium or suspension of new permits for extractive industries,", wrote the LBH.
Arrest perpetrators of illegal logging and mining
The LBH also called for law enforcement to against illegal logging and mining activities that have been causing deforestation and environmental destruction.
"Law enforcement officials and the Director General of Law Enforcement and Environmental Law Enforcement must also act swiftly to investigate and enforce the law against environmentally destructive corporations and other parties or groups carrying out illegal logging and mining activities, which have been rampant and excessive in Sumatra", wrote the LBH.
This needs to be done urgently bearing in mind that the root cause of the flooding is not just high rainfall but also because of the conversion of forest areas and the loss of water catchment areas due to poor governance, as well as the red carpet and impunity given to business owners who are reckless in conducting their business activities. (team/dal)
[Translated by James Balowski. The original title of the article was "LBH Desak Pemerintah Tetapkan Bencana Nasional & Tangkap Perusak Hutan".]
