President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) stated that the frequency of disasters in Indonesia has increased by 81% in the last 12 years. For that, he wants to present a snake robot and an iron man suit. The aim of procuring the technology is to facilitate disaster victim evacuation.
Jokowi asked the Coordinating Minister for Human Development and Culture, Muhadjir Effendy, to Cabinet Secretary Pramono Anung, to help prepare the budget for the National Search and Rescue Agency (Basarnas).
The goal is for Basarnas to have the latest technology, such as snake robots and Iron Man suits, to improve the ability to help disaster victims.
Jokowi at the Working Meeting of the National Search and Rescue Agency (Basarnas) in Jakarta, Thursday, 16 February 2023, stated that Basarnas must have these latest technologies.
Jokowi appealed that disaster management must be improved again. This is because the hopes of the victims and their families rest on the speed of response when a disaster occurs.
“The speed of evacuation determines the number of lives saved, it is in the hands of the SAR team. In my opinion, the use of acceleration and search technology is very important,” said Jokowi.
“In my opinion, there is still a lot that Basarnas needs to have, for example, rescue drones. Even though I saw the drones earlier, we don’t have drones that are for evacuating people,” he said.
In addition, Jokowi said several countries have now used robots for the search and rescue process. He cited the snake robot used in Japan. Then to search in water depths of more than 1 kilometer, there a diving robot that can do it.
Meanwhile, for a height of up to 3,600 meters, Jokowi said Basarnas could have jet suit technology like Iron Man in Marvel films.
“I think once again that today’s technology is all possible. So to protect SAR team personnel, our Basarnas personnel can use that,” he said.
