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February 7, 2025 | 11:01 am
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) has requested to be exempt from a 50 percent budget cut from its initial Rp2,826 trillion funds, citing risks on the agency’s main operational instruments and putting them in danger of becoming inoperable.
The head of the Legal, Public Relations, and Cooperation Bureau of BMKG, Muslihhuddin, said the budget cut could affect the maintenance on these instruments, which will drop as much as 71 percent. Subsequently, BMKG’s observation capacity for the weather, climate conditions, air quality, earthquakes, and tsunamis will be disrupted.
Muslihhuddin illustrated that most of the nearly 600 sensors responsible for monitoring earthquakes and tsunamis spread across Indonesia have exceeded their service life. Reduced maintenance capacity by 71 percent is feared to delay early warning for tsunamis from 3 minutes to over 5 minutes.
The range of dissemination of information related to earthquakes and tsunamis is also expected to drop by 70 percent due to the planned budget cut. Overall, Muslihhuddin told Antara, "The accuracy of weather, climate, earthquake, and tsunami information decreased from 90 percent to 60 percent."
Additionally, studies on the medium- and long-term climate and tectonic dynamics in Indonesia are difficult to carry out due to the budget cut. The modernization of BMKG's systems and operational equipment, including for air transportation safety, which requires 100 percent accuracy, is said to be unachievable. Ultimately, transportation safety across the country could be compromised.
Similarly, Muslihhuddin detailed that support services for food security, energy, and water are disrupted, as well as support services for climate and disaster resilience development. BMKG's role as a provider of early tsunami warnings in the Indian Ocean and ASEAN is also hindered.
According to BMKG, the mitigation of geo-hydrometeorological disaster threats in Indonesia is crucial and cannot be neglected as it concerns the safety of the broader public.
"Thus, taking into account the factors of national resilience and the safety of the Indonesian public from potential disasters that can occur at any time, BMKG has submitted this budget dispensation request," said Muslihhuddin.
Previously, President Prabowo Subianto officially issued Presidential Instruction Number 1 of 2025, which requested a Rp306.69 trillion budget cut.
On a separate occasion, Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati explained that President Prabowo initiated the budget efficiency proposal to redirect the funds into programs that have a more direct impact on society. In this regard, she mentioned Free Nutritious Meals (MBG), food and energy self-sufficiency, and the improvement of the health sector.
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