City to host crisis management conference

Evi Mariani, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Rapid urbanization in Asia has resulted in the region's large cities being more prone to crises resulting from both natural and man-made disasters.

In response to this situation, The Asian Network of Major Cities (ANMC21) in 2003 held the first of what would become annual Asian Crisis Management Meetings.

This year's meeting, to be hosted by the Jakarta administration from Oct. 24 to 25, has been themed "Damage Mitigation and Maintenance of Major Cities' Primary Services in a Disaster".

Representatives from Bangkok, Delhi, Hanoi, Jakarta, Kuala Lumpur, Manila, Seoul, Singapore, Taipei, Tokyo and Yangon are scheduled to attend the meeting.

The first day of the conference will include presentations from several of the city's agencies concerning public order, public infrastructure and fire-fighting, as well as presentations from ANMC21 representatives.

Delegates will visit the city's crisis center at the City Hall, the Meteorology and Geophisics Agency (BMG) and the Fire Department Training Center on the second day of the conference.

At past conferences, issues such as urban disasters and terrorism were focal points.

The network's fourth conference held in Singapore last year focused on "new threats" such as terrorism, while delegates at the network's third conference in Seoul predominately discussed fires.

The most common disasters to strike Asia in recent years have been earthquakes, floods and fires.

In developing cities, the impact of disasters is often exacerbated by a lack of urban planning and facilities.

"We expect to learn a lot from the experiences of other cities," the head of Indonesia's Inter-city Cooperation Bureau Aisa Tobing said.

Jakarta's recent efforts to manage and prevent crisis situations have been seen as substandard by many, with floods continuing to hit the city year after year.

Aging fire departments and trucks have contributed to the city's poor record in fire prevention and management in recent years.

Last week the city's fire department told new Jakarta Governor Fauzi Bowo that more personal and fire trucks were required.

The governor promised to look into greater funding for the department.

Last year there were more than 900 fires in the city, the majority of which started in densely populated areas according to data from the city's fire department.

Between January and September this year some 680 fires had already been reported in the city.