🖋️ Journalist: Ash
🖥️ Editor: Kenzo | AswinNews.com – Sharp, Trusted, Balanced, and Up-to-Date
JAKARTA —
The disaster unfolding in Sumatra can no longer be treated as a mere tragedy. It has become a grave alarm signaling the state’s failure to protect its citizens. With reports of hundreds—if not thousands—of casualties, vast areas reduced to mud and debris, forests and soil destroyed, homes swept away, and millions displaced, the situation has clearly surpassed the capacity of local governments. Yet, despite the scale and severity, the central government has still not declared it a National Disaster.
Aceng Syamsul Hadie has strongly criticized the government’s reluctance to make this designation, describing it as a dangerous delay that worsens human suffering. According to him, the devastation in Sumatra is undeniable proof that local authorities can no longer cope, and that decisive intervention from the central government is urgently required.
“What are we waiting for? Why does the government refuse to be honest with the people about the real conditions on the ground? Declare it immediately as a national disaster,” said Aceng Syamsul Hadie, S.Sos., M.M., Chairman of the Board of Trustees of DPP ASWIN (International Association of Journalists).
Aceng, who is also Editor-in-Chief of Investigation Traces Media, warned that this delay is not a simple administrative oversight, but a clear and visible structural failure. He questioned whether the government is afraid that declaring a national disaster would expose long-standing problems—particularly alleged structured, systematic, and massive ecological crimes involving elites, corporations, and oligarchic interests that have endangered countless lives.
Declaring a National Disaster, Aceng emphasized, is not a political option but a constitutional obligation. Such a status would enable the state to fully intervene, cut through bureaucratic bottlenecks, mobilize the TNI–Polri optimally, accelerate the flow of logistics, and open pathways for international humanitarian assistance without political barriers. Under a unified command, rescue, recovery, and rehabilitation could proceed faster and more effectively.
However, Aceng argued, the government continues to hesitate because declaring a national disaster would amount to an admission that mitigation policies have failed. It would reveal the consequences of unchecked deforestation, uncontrolled mining and palm oil expansion, and ministries that prioritize investor interests over public safety.
Once national disaster status is declared, Aceng added, comprehensive audits and investigations would inevitably follow, exposing negligence from ministerial offices down to regional administrations. This, he believes, is what many fear—not the suffering of the people, but the political and legal consequences.
“In a situation like this, the government should not stand in a gray area. There is no room for ambiguity when people are dying,” Aceng stressed.
“The Sumatra disaster deserves—and must be—declared a national disaster. If the government continues to hesitate, this is no longer a technical issue; it is a matter of moral courage. And today, courage seems to be a rare commodity in this republic.”
Editorial Note
AswinNews.com emphasizes that this article represents a critical public opinion expressed by Aceng Syamsul Hadie as a civil society figure and media leader. The publication of this statement is part of the press’s role in safeguarding democracy, encouraging transparency, and amplifying voices that demand accountability in the management of disasters and environmental governance. AswinNews.com remains committed to presenting balanced reporting and continues to provide space for clarification or responses from relevant government institutions.
