Head of BNPB delivers his speech at the 115th graduation ceremony

Main Auditorium, UIN News Online – The Head of the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) Doni Monardo delivers his speech at the 115th graduation ceremony of UIN Jakarta, Sunday (02/23/2020). In front of the graduates, Doni said that the number of casualties caused by natural disasters had exceeded the number of victims caused by war.

According to Doni, Geographically, Indonesia is located at the confluence of four tectonic plates, the Continent of Asia, the Continent of Australia, the plate of the Indian Ocean and the Pacific Ocean. In the south and east of Indonesia there is a volcanic arc that extends from Sumatra - Java - Nusa Tenggara – Sulawesi.

“These conditions are very prone to disasters such as volcanic eruptions, earthquakes, tsunamis, floods and landslides,” said Doni.

Doni also said, based on 2018 data, the number of death by natural disasters in Indonesia has been ranked first in the world. Then in 2004, fatalities in Indonesia ranked second in the world. This is due to the tsunami in Aceh which claimed hundreds of thousands of lives.

According to Doni, the disaster trend in Indonesia continues to increase significantly from year to year. It can be seen between 1998 and 2019, both of which are caused by the hydrometeorological and geological factors.

Between these two factors, he continued, the hydrometeorological factors such as drought and forest fires or abrasion are even higher, reaching 98 percent. While geological factors, such as earthquakes and volcanic eruptions, only show 2 percent.

“Although the geological or volcanological factors are small, the fatalities were inversely proportional,” he said.

Therefore, to understand the various potential threats of disasters in Indonesia, starting from the western end of Sumatra to the eastern end of Papua, Doni reminded that everyone is asked to maintain the environment and the balance of the ecosystem. As a Muslim-majority country, he also requested that Muslims, especially among the UIN Jakarta academic community, not only to maintain the good relationship with God (hablumminallah) and with humans (hablumminannas) but also maintain the good relations with nature (hablumminal alam).

“If we are able to protect our nature, Insha Allah, the nature will also protect us,” he concluded. (usa/ns)