Indonesia's National Search and Rescue Agency BASARNAS Working to be a World-class SAR Agency

Jun 09, 2015 23:30 JST

Source: National Agency of Search and Rescue

JAKARTA, Jun 09, 2015 - (ACN Newswire) - As the world's largest archipelagic country, Indonesia is like a coin; on the flip side, having total 17,506 islands and flanked by two continents (Asia and Australia) and two oceans (Indian and Pacific), Indonesia has an extremely strategic and strong position to leverage on the global trade and tourism. Not to mention, with a population of as many as 253,6 million people, Indonesia has all the reasons to be at the center of the Southeast Asia's market.

On the other side of the coin, however, this geographic advantage positions Indonesia on the brink of the natural disaster. Indonesia lays on four active tectonic plates: Indo-Australia, Eurasia, Pacific, and Philippines plates. To complete its risk list, Indonesia sits right in the middle of the Ring of Fire, an area in which a large number of earthquakes and volcanic activities frequently occur, as it is home to approximately 130 active volcanoes.

According to the record, Indonesia has suffered many devastating disasters which not only ruined the infrastructures but also took away countless of human lives. Aceh's tsunami, which occurred in 2004, claimed more than 130,000 lives, the 2009 Sumatra earthquake killed more than 1000 of the population, and the Merapi eruption in 2010 caused more than 350 deaths, to name just a few on the list.

Fully responsible to the safety and security of the citizens from the harm of natural disasters, the Government of Republic of Indonesia deploys and relies on the National Search and Rescue Agency (BASARNAS). The Agency plays a critical role during times of disaster. With a vision of conducting successful SAR operations efficiently, credibly, and safely, anytime and anywhere, and a mission to run safe and effective SAR operations, BASARNAS is always committed to being forefront in the ongoing, devastating state of the natural disasters to save lives and prevent losing more.

Among its many successful operations, the operation of Air Asia QZ 5810 evacuation became one of the most successful large-scale operations BASARNAS has ever conducted and highly applauded worldwide. The agency discovered more than half of the victims and countless pieces of the plane wreckage. The operation spent more than 80 days, Rp. 570 millions, deployed tens of skillfully trained divers and hundreds of volunteers.

Established in all 33 provinces throughout Indonesia, BASARNAS is composed of highly trained SAR persons and equipped with the state-of-the-art life-safety support equipment. No matter how long, how far, and how hard the disaster strikes, the team of BASARNAS will be there to evacuate victims, minimizing more loss.

To learn more about BASARNAS, Indonesia's National Search and Rescue Agency, please visit http://www.basarnas.go.id.

Source: National Agency of Search and Rescue
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