Living with tragedies

Few sights are scarier than an earthquake-triggered tsunami unleashing powerful and gigantic waves upon coastal regions, swallowing entire communities and infrastructure in a matter of minutes. Any run-in with nature’s fury is a humbling experience, often uniting human survivors in their misery and suffering. One has to feel for the inhabitants of Indonesia’s Sulawesi and Borneo islands who lived through the horrific ordeal on Sept 29. An early fatality count put the number of victims at a modest 400 but it is clear the actual figure will rise as time wears on. Indonesia’s medical facilities and relief agencies are already strained and tottering under stress. The rest of the world needs to step forward and provide Indonesia a helping hand. Surely the role of a close neighbour, Japan, itself prone to tsunamis, is valuable in this context as the country has developed both the technical e-know-how and the resilience to cope with such catastrophes. Perhaps Indonesia could learn from the morbid fascination of many Japanese with disasters and their embracing of fatalism in accepting tragedies. Much of the success of Indonesia’s elief and rehabilitation efforts will depend on swiftness as well as the capacity to deploy rescue and relief workers and also volunteers. Specialised transport and equipment will be required at all times and Jakarta will have to dig deep into its resolve to get the job done. In recent years the internet has emerged as a useful tool for coordinating rescue and relief operations. Mutual communications on the internet often enable professional societies to quickly assess what resources are needed as well as provide information on the facilities that patients are to be transferred to.

A full recovery is probably months and years away. Jakarta should pay adequate attention to reconstruction efforts even as it scrambles through its relief and rehabilitation initiatives. Care must also be taken not to confuse emergency response with the response to the reconstruction phase. It could take up to a decade to succeed at recovery, with sustained attention and staying power needed. Indonesia must build its capacities with a cautious eye on the future.

 

Published in The Express Tribune, October 1^st, 2018.

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