Mohammad Farid
Titigogoli Village is one of the outermost villages on Morotai Island, North Maluku, Indonesia. This village, with its natural charm, faces serious risks due to river capacity which is influenced by sedimentation, land topography and its location in a coastal area. In the last three years, the village has been hit by several flood events which caused damage to houses, public facilities and other economic losses.
In overcoming this challenge, a social approach applying the Pentahelix Concept is proposed. This concept involves government, academics, society, industry and media to control floods, with an emphasis on the role of society as the most important element. The ITB Water Resources Development Center (PPSDA) and the ITB Research and Community Service Institute (LPPM) have carried out Community Service (PM) in Titigogoli Village in 2023. This activity focuses on improving the flood early warning system and disaster risk education. Evaluation of these activities identified the need for increased village capacity in integrating with other stakeholders, community knowledge of disasters, and a better flood monitoring system.
In response to this need, activities are proposed for Strengthening Community Capacity and a Community-Based Flood Early Warning System in the Coastal Area of Morotai Island Regency in the following year. This activity aims to increase community resilience to floods and is a step towards achieving the 2045 Disaster Resilient Indonesia target set by the National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB). The beneficiaries of this activity are the people of Titigogoli Village, which is 10% of the population of Titigogoli Village (around 45 out of 447 residents). This activity is integrated in the research road map of the PPSDA ITB Water Resources Engineering Expertise Group, especially related to the Development of Water Related Hazard Early Warning System. This activity also involved 3 research members from 3 different faculties, namely FTSL, FITB, and FMIPA. Apart from that, in this activity there was involvement of MBKM students across faculties, namely FTSL and FITB. PPSDA ITB hopes that the results of this research can contribute to increasing community resilience to floods in Titigogoli Village in accordance with the goals of BNPB Indonesia Disaster Resilient 2045.
The PM's approach to Strengthening Community Capacity and Community-Based Flood Early Warning Systems in the Coastal Area of Morotai Island Regency refers to the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction, an international document that sets priorities and targets for reducing disaster risk. Seven global targets, including reducing the number of deaths, economic losses and infrastructure damage, are the focus in achieving this goal. This PM activity involves two main stages: developing a disaster risk map and strengthening a community-based flood monitoring system. Both stages were carried out with the participation of residents, including vulnerable groups such as the elderly, children and pregnant women. Flood risk maps are a tool for communities in planning responses to disasters.
As part of the coordination, this activity involves discussions with stakeholders and related agencies such as the River Basin Office, the Water Resources Management Service, and the local Regional Disaster Management Agency. Apart from that, student involvement is also carried out to provide opportunities for contribution and new experiences in community service. Reporting and disseminating PM results is an important step in disseminating information to the public, so this activity will be covered by print or online mass media, video reports will be uploaded to LPPM ITB's Youtube or personal IGTV, community service reports and national journals.
Develop flood risk maps
Community-based risk maps and strengthened monitoring systems can be useful in increasing community resilience and capacity in facing flood disasters.