[Kabar-indonesia] Red Cross warning system aims for Aceh communities

[Joyo at aol.com]

Red Cross warning system aims for Aceh communities

GENEVA, September 1 (AFP) -- The international Red
Cross said Friday it was launching the first phase of
a disaster warning network in the Indonesian province
of Aceh, aimed at alerting local communities to
impending disasters.

The radio network is meant to end a key flaw in the
system highlighted in the 2004 tsunami and ensure
alerts about natural disasters from new high-tech
warning systems actually reach the people in Aceh, the
International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent
Societies said in a statement.

The Red Cross said the link between the Indonesian
government's new early warning technology and
vulnerable communities was vital.

"The success of any early warning system is very
dependent on this local connection being forged," said
Johan Schaar, the federation's tsunami representative.

In July, a 7.7 magnitude undersea earthquake triggered
a tsunami that hit 200 kilometres (120 miles) of
Indonesian coastline, causing more than 620 deaths.

Although text messages were sent to local officials,
they contained scant information and warnings failed
to reach local communities in Java.

Eighty local staff and volunteers in Aceh have been
trained to use special radio handsets and to ensure
that early warning information reaches and is
understood by their own communities, the Red Cross
said.

The radio network, which will expand to 300 people, is
linked through Red Cross headquarters in Jakarta to
information from government monitoring agencies.

"They are from the very communities that face imminent
disaster, and are therefore best placed to take
information the 'last mile' to where it is needed,"
Schaar explained.

"Any discussion about early warning systems must take
this into account."

Indian Ocean nations began setting up new warning
systems after the December 2004 tsunami that killed
some 220,000 people, 168,000 of them in Aceh.

They are primarily based on seismic data, tidal
gauges, and a new network of satellite-linked deep
ocean detectors which is meant be completed by 2010.

But part of the effort has been hampered by bickering
between countries over a regional coordination centre.

The Indonesian government has said it will also
install sirens on mobile phone towers.

Indonesia sits on the Pacific "Ring of Fire", where
continental tectonic plates meet, causing frequent
earthquakes and volcanic activity.

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Joyo Indonesia News Service
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