On September 28, 2018, the island of Sulawesi with its main central province in Palu, Indonesia experienced Tsunami (Beech, Suhartono and Paddock 2018). The earthquake was caused as the tectonic plates moved horizontally with a magnitude of 7.5 sending destructive waves into the coast (Paddock and Suhartono 2018). It was suggested that the tsunami originated in Palu bay at 500mph causing the height of waves up to six metres (Beech, Suhartono and Paddock 2018). The city was unprepared for the catastrophe leading to a death toll of 1700 as of 6th October (Beech, Suhartono and Paddock 2018). After the quake-tsunami, 191,000 people were in urgent need of help as reported by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (AFP.com 2018). Before the tsunami hit, there were aftershocks that devastated the Sulawesi coast turning buildings to dust. Thousands of people were trapped and buried in landslide in the nearby villages.
Palu tourism comprises of plains, hills and coastal beaches. The tourists called Palu ‘the paradise under the equator’ due to its geographical characteristics. The devastating flood has destroyed natural sights, parks, lakes and beaches. The disaster agencies are still trying to recover bodies. In the Palu neighbourhood, the earthquake has swallowed over 1,700 houses which is a home for over 380,000 people (Cnbc.com 2018). Hundreds of people are starving and waiting to be medicated. There is threat of violence among survivors as the convoys carrying food and water moved with police escorts while moving towards the city. Indonesia is too familiar with earthquakes and tsunamis as is it seismically on an active Pacific Ring of Fire (Cnbc.com 2018).
Overview of the tourism and hospitality activity
Sulawesi is an Indonesian island comprising of coral reefs, dive sites such as the Togian Islands and Bunaken National Park. Palu has Talise Beach, Drupadi Forest Home and Nosarara Nosabatutu Monuments. The hospitality and tourism industry flourishes in Palu as they have paragliding activities in Matantimali. The floods shall mainly affect West Sulawesi tourism. The hospitality activities in West Sulawesi have Karampuang Island which is a beautiful spot for snorkelling. Further, the tourism activity includes Pantai Dato which is located at a distance of 7 kilometre from the City of Majene. This island is unique as the visitors can stay in cottages made of tree nuts and bamboo pole. It gives a sense of natural environment to the tourists as it is laid out in the shade of trees. Another popular tourist destination in West Sulawesi is Air Terjun Sambabo. It comprises of waterfall located at an altitude of 400 meters called the Waterfall Sambabo which is often compared to the Niagara Falls in the United States (Indonesia-tourism.com 2018).
The government statistics of Indonesia reveal that an average of 2.75 disasters occur a day over the 12-month period statistics (Reliefweb.int 2015). The International Regulations on Human Rights comes into play as they protect human rights. However, there are no comprehensive or recognized internationally agreed principles, rules or standards for the people affected by natural disasters. The human rights protection extent is not limited to securing the physical security and survival of the victims affected by floods (Paton and Johnston 2017). There are three phases when an area is hit by natural disaster- need to get information in the pre-natural disaster phase where education and preparation for evacuation may be provided. Second is the need to ensure non-discrimination with regard to religious and cultural differences in the distribution of assistance (Oloruntoba, Sridharan and Davison 2018). Third is the need to monitor in the post-disaster phase which comprises of providing rehabilitation and boosts recovery development (Reliefweb.int 2015).
The Law of the Republic of Indonesia, Number 24 of 2007, Concerning Disaster Management is the legal framework of the country that bears the responsibility to safeguard Indonesia from natural, artificial and social disasters (Dewi 2018). The Government of Indonesia in its National Medium-Term Development Plan has strengthened the framework for disaster prevention and response. However, it is argued that the disaster caused in Indonesia left the people unprepared for it. The critics pointed fingers at the Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) who ended the tsunami warning right before it hit the shore. It is revealed that the people looked unaware of moving to higher ground after an earthquake even when there was no tsunami warning. Therefore, it is revealed that the people in Palu had no idea about taking primary measures from a quake as there is no training given to them. People in Indonesia failed to anticipate the risks despite similar regular occurrences of disasters (Dewi 2018).
Following is the list of general objectives that must be created by the regulatory and legal bodies for managing disasters like tsunami-
There are several key parties that play a significant role in disaster management process.
Communities
These are the most vulnerable stakeholders in the disaster management and need to be aware of potential negative impacts they are exposed to. Several communities in Indonesia need to be educated so that they can respond quickly in cases of earthquakes or tsunamis (Kalkman and de Waard 2017).
Local Governments
The local government must have considerable knowledge of the hazards to which the entire community is exposed. Local government is a crucial stakeholder as they are involved in the design and maintenance of warning systems. The local government can increase the safety of local population and reduce loss of resources (Granville, Mehta, and Pike 2016).
National Governments
The national government is responsible for policies and frameworks that are directed towards the most vulnerable populations. Early warning frameworks address the needs of specific micro and macro factors.
Non-governmental organizations
The NGOs play a crucial role in raising awareness among individuals regarding implementation of early warning systems. The NGOs also play advocacy role for ensuring early warning on the agenda of government policy makers.
Media
Media plays a significant role in improving disaster consciousness of the general population. It also acts as a link between the general public and agency (De Albuquerque et al. 2015).
International Bodies
The international bodies must provide support for national early warning activities and foster exchange of knowledge and data between individual countries. They are also responsible for providing technical assistance as required in the disaster management.
Scientific Community
This body provides specialized scientific input to the local governments and the communities in developing warning systems. The scientific community analyse the risks faced by the natural hazards.
Federal Emergency Management Agency
The disaster field office conducts operations to determine the type and level of damages caused. They also implement recovery programs such as public assistance and individual assistance.
The policy draft as proposed above can be validated as the previous studies and research is reviewed with similar results. It is noted that the people affected in Indonesian tsunami were inexperienced and unprepared for the disaster. Despite previous occurrences of quakes and floods in the territory, the residents were not given proper education and training for reducing loss of life and resources. It is justified that proper education and training could have helped the people in saving loss of their resources. The death toll could have been lesser if there was early warning from the regulatory and legal bodies (Granville, Mehta, and Pike 2016).
It is further argued that the tourism and hospitality is affected due to tsunami. The natural environment has been disrupted by the tectonic movement of the plates. If the governmental and regulatory bodies would have taken sufficient measures in training and educating the people, the disaster prevention and response could have been stronger. Natural disasters are inevitable but the intensity of impact of livelihood is avoidable. The people looked unaware of moving to higher ground after an earthquake even when there was no tsunami warning. Therefore, certain policy measures need to be taken for better preparedness and disaster response.
It is validated that partnership with local and federal government shall minimize the impact of disasters like tsunami. Integration of disaster management policy into environmental protection policies and socio-economic development policies shall help in livelihood preservation.
References
AFP.com, 2018. Scientists zero in on cause of unusual Indonesian disaster. [online] AFP.com. Available at: <https://www.afp.com/en/news/23/scientists-zero-cause-unusual-indonesian-disaster-doc-19r51g1> [Accessed 7 Oct. 2018].
Beech, H., Suhartono, M. and Paddock, R., 2018. Indonesia Tsunami and Quake Devastate an Island, Killing Hundreds. [online] Nytimes.com. Available at: <https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/29/world/asia/indonesia-tsunami-sulawesi-palu.html> [Accessed 7 Oct. 2018].
Cnbc.com, 2018. Indonesian survivors desperate to flee disaster zone as death toll climbs to 844. [online] CNBC. Available at: <https://www.cnbc.com/2018/09/29/indonesia-tsunami-death-toll-jumps-after-quake-flood-waters.html> [Accessed 7 Oct. 2018].
De Albuquerque, J.P., Herfort, B., Brenning, A. and Zipf, A., 2015. A geographic approach for combining social media and authoritative data towards identifying useful information for disaster management. International Journal of Geographical Information Science, 29(4), pp.667-689.
Dewi, S., 2018. We live with but are unprepared for natural disasters. [online] The Jakarta Post. Available at: <https://www.thejakartapost.com/academia/2018/10/04/we-live-with-but-are-unprepared-for-natural-disasters.html> [Accessed 7 Oct. 2018].
Granville, F., Mehta, A. and Pike, S., 2016. Destinations, disasters and public relations: Stakeholder engagement in multi-phase disaster management. Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Management, 28, pp.73-79.
Indonesia-tourism.com, 2018. West Sulawesi – new province established in October 5, 2004. [online] Indonesia-tourism.com. Available at: <https://www.indonesia-tourism.com/west-sulawesi/> [Accessed 7 Oct. 2018].
Kalkman, J.P. and de Waard, E.J., 2017. Inter-organizational disaster management projects: Finding the middle way between trust and control. International journal of project management, 35(5), pp.889-899.
Oloruntoba, R., Sridharan, R. and Davison, G., 2018. A proposed framework of key activities and processes in the preparedness and recovery phases of disaster management. Disasters, 42(3), pp.541-570.
Paddock, R. and Suhartono, M., 2018. Tsunami and Earthquake in Indonesia Kill Nearly 400, Officials Say. [online] Nytimes.com. Available at: <https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/28/world/asia/tsunami-palu-indonesia-earthquake.html> [Accessed 7 Oct. 2018].
Paton, D. and Johnston, D., 2017. Disaster resilience: an integrated approach. Charles C Thomas Publisher.
Reliefweb.int, 2015. Disaster Management Reference Handbook. [ebook] Indonesia. Available at: <https://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/resources/disaster-mgmt-ref-hdbk-2015-indonesia.pdf> [Accessed 7 Oct. 2018].
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