Mitigation Agency Constructs Nine Tsunami Evacuation Shelters

Jakarta, Oct 21 (Antara) - The National Disaster Mitigation Agency has constructed nine temporary evacuation shelters to avoid fatalities during a disaster in tsunami-prone areas. "The shelters will provide temporary protection and save people when a tsunami occurs. The shelters are meant to be used for two hours after the disaster occurs and will not function as refugee shelters," Chief of Data and Public Relation for the agency Sutopo Purwo Nugroho noted here on Tuesday. The mitigation agency is cooperating with the Public Works Ministry and other related institutions to construct tsunami evacuation shelters using the 2014 budget. The agency has built a shelter in the Aceh Besar District of Aceh Province, two shelters in Koto Tengah, Padang City of West Sumatra, and two shelters in Kampung Melayu and Seluma Districts of Bengkulu City. The mitigation agency also built two shelters in Muara Village of Wanasalam Sub-district and Labuan Village of Banten Province. Besides this, the institution also constructed a shelter each in the Denpasar City of Bali Island and Pamenangan Sub-district of West Nusa Tenggara. "The shelters are being constructed in areas that are prone to tsunami, so that the evacuation efforts can be carried out immediately once the disaster occurred," Sutopo noted. The mitigation agency also coordinated by providing the technical details of the preparation in the 30 locations in Sumatra and Java Islands to curtail the risks of disaster. The technical preparations included creating evacuation line maps, repairing evacuation ladders and evacuation roadwork, setting up early warning siren systems using modest technology, formulating contingency plans, and providing information about protection shelters. "We have implemented the program and informed about it to the regional administration, so that the handling and evacuation process of the tsunami victims can be carried out immediately to avoid large number of fatalities," Sutopo added.