As part of the StIRRRD team’s ongoing monitoring and coaching role, during March we visited all districts to gauge their respective progress and where possible, provide support and advice for building on the initial success of the program. In this blog we describe some of the highlights from our visit to Donggala, Central Sulawesi.
Welcome back to Donggala
As the StIRRRD programme moves from phase 1 (plan development and training) to phase 2 (implementation and monitoring), districts are presented with a certificate and small NZ-themed gift to recognise their progress. To mark this occasion, BPBD arranged a ceremony to welcome the StIRRRD team back to Donggala and provided a rousing rendition of the Indonesian national anthem as well as BNPB’s national disaster theme song.
Action Plan Progress
During the morning of 20 March, a workshop was held which included the Secretary Head of District, emergency management, public works and other local government staff to discuss implementation progress in Donggala. During this session, it was clear the district has made good progress on policy reviews which now include DRR objectives, while further opportunities to align existing socialisation programmes with Action Plan activities were also identified.
An update of Donggala’s 2010 building regulations has been conducted and were re-published in 2015. The new regulations now require that new buildings are designed to be ‘earthquake resilient’. The local government spatial planning office is undertaking a programme for the implementation of ‘earthquake resilient buildings’ in both existing and new development areas.
At the workshop, senior representation from a range of stakeholders, identified the potential for further synergy between work programmes where this was previously not recognised. For example, the local government Head of Social Agency has identified planned programmes that will now be aligned with BPBD’s socialisation activities. In addition, the local government Head of Environment Agency provided substantial discussion on the probable exacerbation of flooding and impact on water resources from mining activities. These discussions provide a strong platform to align existing work programmes with Action Plan activities in Donggala.
Action Plan Forward Plan
During the afternoon, the Action Plan and discussion points from the morning’s workshop were discussed in detail with the emergency management office; as custodians of the Action Plan. At this session, it was important to have not only the Head of BPBD but each BPBD Division Head, Readiness and DRR, Logistics, Rehabilitation and Reconstruction and BPBD staff to review the Action Plan.
