Jayapura – Strengthening local government capacity in disaster management is being highlighted as an important part of efforts to build a more resilient Papua. Increased budgetary support and stronger regulations are considered necessary to improve disaster preparedness and response at the regency and municipal levels.
Head of the Papua Regional Disaster Management Agency (BPBD), Robert L.N. Awi, said disaster management capacity in several regencies and municipalities across Papua still needs to be strengthened. One of the key concerns is budgetary support for BPBD offices in each region.
“Their budget is only Rp200 million. How can they handle disasters with such a small budget?” he said.
Robert said strengthening disaster management capacity is a shared responsibility involving regency and municipal governments, the provincial government and the central government. He added that budgetary support at the local level needs greater attention from regional leaders.
Beyond funding, he emphasized that stronger regulations are also important to improve regional disaster management capacity.
Robert noted that Jayapura City and Jayapura Regency already have regional regulations governing disaster management, while several other areas still rely on regent regulations.
“Jayapura City and Jayapura Regency already have regional regulations, but the others still have regent regulations. This is still not strong enough; it needs to be upgraded to a regional regulation first,” he said.
According to Robert, stronger regulations would provide local governments with a clearer legal framework for determining disaster management mechanisms, including the distribution of roles and responsibilities among relevant parties.
“Later, within the regional regulation, the mechanisms for disaster management can be outlined there,” he said.
Strengthening funding, institutional capacity and regulatory frameworks is expected to support the development of a more coordinated disaster management system across Papua. Improved local capacity would also help strengthen preparedness and protection for communities facing potential disasters.
