Marking Six Years Since the Lombok Earthquake with Book Launching ‘Making Peace with Disaster’


The book ”Making Peace with Disasters: Learning Disaster Risk Reduction Strategies with Various Approaches in NTB” contains a collection of writings from a number of authors from regional government elements at the provincial and district levels as well as from non-governmental organisations. Each writer shares their experiences and reflections on their role in dealing with the 2018 earthquake, from the moment the earthquake occurred to the rehabilitation and reconstruction stages.

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The earthquake disaster that rocked Lombok Island, West Nusa Tenggara (NTB) on August 5 2018, became a starting point for the community and local government in NTB to become resilient. The experience of facing a disaster six years ago was outlined in the book as material for reflection and collective learning to improve preparedness and build sustainable resilience in the future.

The book, entitled “Making Peace with Disasters: Learning Disaster Risk Reduction Strategies with Various Approaches in NTB”, was launched in Mataram City on Monday (5/8) to coincide with the sixth anniversary of the Lombok earthquake. The event held by the NTB Disaster Risk Reduction Forum (FPRB) with support from the SIAP SIAGA Program was attended by the Director of Preparedness of the National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB) Drs. Pangarso Suryotomo, Counselor for Development Effectiveness and Humanitarian, Australian Embassy in Jakarta, Simon Flores via Zoom, NTB Regional Secretary Drs. H. Lalu Gita Ariadi, M.Si, Secretary of the Regional Disaster Management Agency (BPBD) Ahmad Yani, S.Pd., MMInnov and representatives from regional apparatus organisations in NTB, academics, media, and representatives of community groups including organisations of people with disabilities in NTB.

Chairman of the NTB FPRB, Rahmat Sabani, said that in 2018, the people of NTB were given a test in the form of an earthquake. However, this disaster shows that the NTB community can be resilient, including when the community has to face the impact of COVID-19. Many lessons can be learned from these disaster events and efforts to deal with them, especially regarding the disaster management system, the implementation of which requires the cooperation of many parties. “Today, the disaster that we experienced can be reflected on and has been written into a book by a number of parties. “Hopefully, this can be material for reflection in the future so that we can become more resilient,” he said.

The book “Making Peace with Disasters: Learning Disaster Risk Reduction Strategies with Various Approaches in NTB” contains a collection of writings from a number of authors from regional government elements at the provincial and district levels as well as from non-governmental organisations. Each writer shares their experiences and reflections on their role in dealing with the 2018 earthquake, from the moment the earthquake occurred to the rehabilitation and reconstruction stages. Apart from that, there is also the author’s experience in dealing with other disasters, such as drought, floods and landslides. Therefore, this book contains lessons about disaster management from various sectors.

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According to the BNPB Director of Preparedness, Drs. Pangarso Suryotomo, in disaster management, there are many technical and non-technical problems. Not to mention that earthquake impact data continues to change, requiring strong commitment from various parties in responding to the situation. Therefore, collaboration between regional and central governments, as well as non-governmental institutions and the media, is urgently needed. In NTB, this can work so that the problems that exist at that time can be resolved well.

He added that BPBD NTB and FPRB NTB, supported by the SIAP SIAGA Program, have explored the community’s experiences over the last six years. This book, which was launched, shows that many things in society are actually local wisdom in responding to disasters. Therefore, he expressed his gratitude because this book not only contains good practices but also shows the implementation of the 3 P functions in disaster management, namely: handling, participation and protection. “Let’s use this book as social capital in educating the public and promoting good disaster management in NTB to other regions in Indonesia,” he stressed.

NTB Regional Secretary Lalu Gita Ariadi also welcomed the launch of the book, which was held at the same time as the Lombok earthquake commemoration. According to him, earthquake warnings and learning from these events need to continue to be carried out to anticipate future disaster risks. This is very important because the NTB region is on the ring of fire. There are various disaster risks faced, so joint efforts are needed to mitigate and protect the community. On the other hand, the NTB region also has locations which are international tourist destinations. Therefore, there need to be standard operational procedures to deal with emergencies so that they can provide a sense of security for tourists who come to the NTB region.

Meanwhile, Australian Embassy Counselor to Indonesia Simon Flores, in his remarks delivered online, appreciated the efforts of various parties in NTB, especially the NTB FPRB and NTB BPBD, who have worked to improve disaster preparedness and mitigation. The book that was launched is a concrete manifestation of Pentahelix’s collaboration in disaster management. He hopes that the book, which contains good practices that have been carried out over the last six years in NTB, can be adopted by other regions and become an important reference for disaster literacy and disaster risk reduction.

The book launch event was also filled with two discussion sessions featuring book authors as speakers. Each discussion session presents respondents from government elements, including the Chief Executive of the North Lombok Regency BPBD, Mr. Zaldy Rahadian, and representatives of academics, media, and business actors.

Download the book here: Making Peace with Disaster (only available in Indonesian)

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