The Ministry would extend its assistance in fishermen settlement reconstruction and fishery facility and infrastructure reconstruction.
The Ministry of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries (KKP) is ready to extend assistance to tsunami victims at Mettu Daby island in Papua.
On Friday, March 11, 2011, the island in Papua province was hit by the tail of gargantuan tsunami, triggered by a powerful earthquake measuring 8.9 on the Richter scale in Japan.
The Meteorology Climatology and Geophysics Agency of Papua had earlier issued a tsunami warning to the northern coast of Papua at 04.15. pm. to enable its people to evacuate to the safer places.
Based on data collected by the local government in the field, the tsunami that hit Papua`s northern coastal areas had caused extensive damage at two locations namely Hotekamp coastal area and Enggros village.
At least 43 houses were damaged and one person perished, Head of the National Disaster Management Office (BNPB) of Papua, Yohanis Wemben said on Monday.
According to Wemben, 14 houses were seriously damaged and three others lightly in Tobati Village, while nine in Enggros Village seriously. There are also 19 houses in Holtekam and 13 in Hanurata damaged due to the tsunami waves.
The most damaged region is the Hanurata complex, Muara Tami District, located around 75 kilometer from Jayapura. Some of the public infrastructure facilities near the coast were also damaged by the tsunami.
Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Minister Fadel Muhammad said on Sunday that the KKP would soon help rehabilitation and reconstruction program at Enggros village in Mettu Daby island which was hit by the tsunami.
Fadel said his office would also allocate an amount of funds from 2011 budget to assist the recovery process at the tsunami-hit island in Papua.
The minister said that for the preliminary step, the KKP would send a team to the disaster area in Papua to conduct an inventory of the needs of the tsunami-affected communities and to find out the amount of funds to be allocated for the rehabilitation and reconstruction program.
Therefore Fadel said the KKP would extend its assistance in fishermen settlement reconstruction and fishery facility and infrastructure reconstruction.
“The KKP is also mapping out other locations that have a big potential to be hit by tsunami, and expecting to cooperate with the local government to anticipate tidal wave disaster,” Fadel said.
He added that the Ministry of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries was also actively making familiarization of earthquake and tsunami mitigation at the coastal areas of smaller islands across Indonesia.
The mitigation of disaster threatening the coastal areas and smaller islands in the country has been arranged in Law No.24/2007 and Law No.27/2007 on coastal areas and smaller islands management.