18-12, Nishiochiai 2-chome,
Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo 161-8575, Japan
Phone: +81-3-5906-0211
FAX: +81-3-5906-0112

Natural Disaster Prevention

BACKGROUND & PURPOSE OF PROJECT

Mt. Merapi (2,986m) is one of the most prominent active volcanoes in the world, and a region of high population density consisting of 2.65 million people including the city of Yogyakarta (480,000 residents) spreads to the south of Mt. Merapi. Yogyakarta contains a number of historic sites such as Borobudur and Prambanan, and is a tourist spot where approx. 7 million tourists visit every year. The targeted region of this project includes the city of Yogyakarta and its surrounding area as it is an important center for regional society, not only in terms of administration and the economy but also because of its cultural sites and tradition. In spite of this, the region is always under the threat of volcanic eruption leading the Indonesian government to designate the region around Mt. Merapi as the region of most importance in its national disaster management program following a serious disaster in 1969. Furthermore, JICA conducted the master plan study on the mitigation of volcanic disaster in 1980, and two stages of sabo projects were implemented from 1985 to 2001 from funds provided by the JBIC based on this Master Plan.

CHARACTERISTICS, CONCEPT, STANCE & SKILLS OF PROJECT

This project mainly consists of 1) countermeasures of volcanic disaster mitigation, 2) riverbed stabilization in the Progo river, 3) institution and community development, and 4) regional development. The scheduled project period is 6 years.
Considering the significant influence on the local community, series of PCM (Public Consultation Meeting) is held regularly until the projects' completion to help deepen the understanding of the project amongst the local population and to promote their participation in the project. In addition to this, the sustainability of the project is facilitated by emphasizing the development of human resources in the related institutions.

EFFECT OF PROJECT

1) Countermeasures for volcanic disaster mitigation:
- To protect human lives, assets, social infrastructures, landuse
- To sustain economic activities (agriculture, tourism etc.)
2) Riverbed stabilization in the Progo river (2 groundsills):
- To sustain regional and national transportation network and oil supply
- To sustain the chief industry in the region, agriculture
3) Institution and community development:
- To contribute to sediment control plan
- To generate O/M cost for sabo facilities
- To mitigate issues associated with sand mining
- To increase the regional income through sustainable sand mining
4) Regional development:
- To stipulate the regional development through implementation of above countermeasures
- To sustain the agriculture
- To mitigate the lack of social infrastructure