Early Disaster Response Team Unit (DERU) UGM will send a team of experts to assist flood disaster response in Wasior, West Papua. The teams that will depart include medical health, geology, forestry, and psychology teams. "Within this week, we will send teams to map the post-disaster response that needs to be done," chief of DERU UGM team, Slamet Widiyanto, M.Sc. told reporters on Monday (11/10). He was accompanied by Chairman of the Institute for Research and Community Service (LPPM) UGM, Prof. Dr. Ir. Danang Parikesit, M.Sc., Head of Public Relations and Protocol, Drs. Suryo Baskoro, M.S., UGM geologists, Prof. Dr. Dwikorita Karnawati, Dr. Subagyo Hamumijoyo, and psychologist Rahmat Hidayat, M.Sc., Ph.D.
According to the plan, the team of about 10 people will be in Wasior for one week to make field assessment and identify the urgent needs of local residents. "All the teams make the assessment. All the data will be collected to determine the next steps," Slamet said.
The data gathered by each team, according to Slamet, will serve as material for UGM to coordinate with the Indonesian Red Cross (PMI), National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB), and local government to support the rehabilitation and reconstruction efforts. "We will work with partners for the disaster management," he said.
Slamet said the team will also conduct direct observations about the possibility of UGM to set up a post at the disaster site, especially to overcome post-disaster trauma. "For the psychosocial treatment, later on we can send KKN PPM students," he said.
UGM psychologist, Rahmat Hidayat, M.Sc., Ph.D., said that trauma management after the disaster is urgent to do because psychological and psychosocial therapy takes more time. "From the social psychological aspects, the scale that is caused by the disaster is similar to that after a tsunami disaster. The challenge for us is how to re-energize people to re-develop their region," he said.
More time is needed for social therapy because two thirds of Wasior residents are migrants. Recovery for the indigenous community itself can be done through cultural and indigenous aspects of the local community. "More than half of these residents are migrants and they have evacuated to other places. It takes a strong effort to persuade them back to the region," he added.
Meanwhile, UGM geologist, Prof. Dr. Dwikorita Karnawati, said the flood that occurred in Wasior is a process of landscape evolution that occurs periodically, especially in areas with high rainfalls. However, human activities can contribute to accelerate the re-occurrence of the floods. "The flood disaster in Wasior is due to natural processes; this is proved by the formation of alluvial fan area that was detected through satellite images. A proper and tight spatial planning should be done to avoid the development of settlements in the alluvial fan zone," he explained.
To anticipate such a disaster, according to Dwikorita, routine monitoring is necessary to prevent or provide early warning with the formation of sediment dam at the upstream, measuring the amount of rainfall, measuring the rate of increase in water discharge and sediment from upstream to downstream.