By : Alvaro Hukubun )*
Very high appreciation should be given by all elements of the nation for the efforts and hard work that has been carried out by the Government of Indonesia in distributing assistance in the form of food or logistics to drought-affected communities in Papua. Also included, when experiencing extreme weather constraints, in the end a solution was given in the form of building a food barn. Other threats such as security and KST disturbances are optimally anticipated by sending security forces.
The Government of the Republic of Indonesia (RI) has indeed given very serious attention to the existence of drought and famine that occurred in the Agandugume, Lambewi and Oneri Districts in Puncak Regency, Central Papua Province. Not half-hearted, even as clear evidence of the seriousness of the attention given by the government, the President of the Republic of Indonesia, Joko Widodo (Jokowi) immediately ordered several parties at once.
When the Head of State learned about and responded to a disaster in the form of drought and famine that occurred in Cenderawasih Land, he immediately gave orders to the Coordinating Minister for Human Development and Culture (Menko PMK), Head of the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) and also to the Minister of Social Affairs (Mensos ) to deal directly with the problem as quickly as possible.
Suddenly, following up on the directions and orders given by the seventh President of the Republic of Indonesia, the Coordinating Minister for Human Development and Culture Muhadjir Effendy immediately made a fast movement and headed to Central Papua to deal with the problem of drought and the frost phenomenon that caused famine as soon as possible in that region.
He said that there is a dry season and drought that occurs in Puncak Regency, Central Papua, in fact it always occurs periodically in the middle of the year starting from May, June and July. Furthermore, he explained that whenever there is a dry season there and it is also accompanied by the phenomenon of frost, the impact will directly attack residents’ crops resulting in food failure, which will automatically result in a shortage of food and clean water.
Actually, initially everything had been planned by the Coordinating Minister for PMK together with the Head of BNPB Suharyanti, who would fly directly to one of the directly affected locations in the Agandugume District and at the same time bring assistance in the form of logistics. However, it turned out that there was an obstacle in the form of weather which made it impossible to make flights to Puncak Regency.
Even though there are obstacles in the form of the weather making it impossible to fly there, of course the government is not just sitting idly by seeing that its people are being hit by difficulties. The Coordinating Minister for PMK immediately held discussions with several other institutions such as the Head of BNPB, the Regent of Puncak Regency and the Cenderawasih Regional Commander (Pangdam).
After discussions with many parties, in the end an alternative solution emerged. Instead of providing assistance in the form of logistical materials, which are constrained by extreme weather, making it impossible to fly directly there, thus limiting access to food assistance to the community, there is an alternative solution, namely by building a food barn to supply the population’s food during the dry season. happen.
The plan is to build a food storage in the Agandugume District to be carried out near the airport, which in this way will be able to help anticipate that in the month before May there will be food stocks sent by BNPB and the Ministry of Social Affairs (Kemensos). Thus, when a disaster occurs periodically it will continue to occur, it will automatically be resolved.
With the planning for the construction of a food storage there, the plan will also be reported directly to President Joko Widodo and a much more thorough study will then be carried out to later become part of permanent anticipation in dealing with this periodic phenomenon in Puncak Regency.
This includes, to further the success of the construction of food storages so that all food stocks can be distributed to the community in an equitable and conducive manner, security forces will also be placed to supervise the food storages and monitor the distribution of food stocks when needed.
Muhadjir Effendy as the Coordinating Minister for Human Development and Culture really hopes that cooperation can be established by all parties so that they can continue to help together so that the delivery of logistical assistance carried out by the government, including efforts to build food storages as a solution, can run smoothly.
Of course, all parties can work hand in hand and also participate in expediting the process of handling the dry season in as many as 3 (three) districts of Puncak Regency which will be able to save people’s lives.
The distribution of aid in the form of food or logistics to the people of Papua who are victims of the drought has so far been carried out optimally and maximally by the Government of Indonesia. Even though there were several obstacles such as the weather, a solution was finally born by working on the construction of a food barn. Then for other obstacles such as threats of interference from the KST, the government immediately deployed a number of security forces to carry out security assessments.
)* The author is a Papuan student living in Jakarta