NORTH LOMBOK, Indonesia, Aug. 20, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- A series of devastating earthquakes that hit Lombok recently has displaced hundreds of thousands of residents, which the North and East Regencies were affected the most. The National Board for Disaster Management (BNPB) has been relying on the Qlue mobile app to empower residents, volunteers, NGOs and various Governmental Agencies to report problems along with needs of the many evacuation shelters.
A lack of accurate and standardized information on evacuation shelters and the victims' urgent needs have hampered the aid distribution operations following the earthquake. In one camp, goods can be overflowing with supply, while other camps might not even exist on the radar. BNPB Deputy of Prevention and Preparedness Mr. B. Wisnu Widjaja emphasized that the critical point is not in aid availability, but delivery to the right shelters. Distribution is difficult because information of shelter locations is rarely exact.
"If we can gain this information quickly, we can also distribute aid quickly," Mr. Wisnu said after an earthquake management evaluation meeting at the North Lombok regent's office in Nusa Tenggara Barat on Sunday (12/8/2018) afternoon.
Since then, BNPB is utilizing Qlue to tackle this problem and help locals and field officers compile a database of refugee shelters, along with their coordinates and the refugees' list of needs. The success of the Qlue database depends on everyone's active participation. "Locals and volunteers can participate [in updating the data]," said Qlue Director of Customer Success Norman Ganto.
Data from the Qlue report on Wednesday afternoon (15/8) have identified 397 evacuation shelters, damaged buildings, and damaged public facilities; in which 9,584 locals have been identified as internally displaced. Currently, the aid delivery is assisted by 1,905 registered volunteers and 238 of them are actively reporting from Qlue.
Despite the devastating effects of the earthquakes, BNPB and Qlue are working closely with the Armed Forces, Regional Police, Local government, NGOs and residents to address the various issues in Lombok, in hopes that Lombok will once again become the paradise it is known to be.
About Qlue:
Qlue is a civic-tech startup that provides reporting app service for the government. Powered by GIS-based platform and Big Data, Qlue have been serving 25 cities and municipalities as well as 17 regional police department.
