28 May 2022 | THE Cites Unies France (CUF), UCLG World, and UCLG ASPAC together with the local government and local people of Palu City celebrated the collaboration on the support to the recovery of Palu City from Tsunami, earthquake, and liquefaction disasters occurred in 2018 through the launching ceremony of public space and memorial wall.
The public space was constructed in the Balaroa area where the victims of disasters reside in permanent housing built by the local government. The built public space was very much welcomed by the affected community as they finally have a space for their communal activities.
The traditional dance performance cheered up the inauguration ceremony and welcomed the mayor and the guests.
Mr. Lasrin, Head of Balaroa Community, thanked the CUF, UCLG World, and UCLG ASPAC for developing the public space. UCLG ASPAC Secretary General, Dr. Bernadia Irawati Tjandradewi emphasised the importance of good maintenance of the facility so that the community can keep using it. She also thanked CUF, UCLG World and Palu City Government and the Community for good collaboration in the execution of this solidarity effort. Mr Andre Viola, President of the General Council of Aude, CUF, explained that CUF initiated the fundraising and more than 30 cities participated and came up with the idea to build something that can be useful for the impacted community. He, further, explained that a similar project will be implemented as well in several other cities such as Lebanon and Mozambique. He also hoped that the public space can be a space to give trainings and workshops for the community. Mayor of Palu Hadianto Rasyid expressed his appreciation for the support and hoped the collaboration would continue.
The ceremony was celebrated with all permanent housing residents. They also witnessed the signing of the monument by the Mayor of Palu, CUF Representative, and Secretary General UCLG ASPAC.
The donation received from CUF through the UCLG Working Group on Territorial Prevention and Management of Crisis led by CUF was used for:
- Stakeholder mapping activities together with the Local Disaster Agency of Palu City in 2020.
- Supported the economic activity of the community through the Business Group or Kelompok Usaha Bersama (KUBE) in cooperation with the Social Unit of Palu City, also in 2020.
- Developed the Disaster Risk Assessment or “Dokumen Kajian Risiko Bencana (KRB)” in Balaroa area in 2021. The document was presented to the Mayor of Palu for further follow up on the recommendations.
- Developed the Detail Engineering Design (DED) of Public Space in 2021. The public space was designed together with the local community and the University of Tadulako in Palu.
- Construction of the resilience Public Space as a multi-functional space for the local community in 2022.
Capacity Building Before the Launch
One day prior to the launch, UCLG and UCLG World conducted a one-day learning programme in a hybrid format. It looked at concrete examples of post-disaster rehabilitation practices, identified specified knowledge on the recovery process and building back better, and defined ways to effectively adopt the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR). It also enhanced the connectivity of the Sendai Framework for DRR with Recovery and Rehabilitation Programme in Palu and linked Palu City Government with other cities in the region with practices on post-disaster rehabilitation (public facility development, local economic development/LED, and permanent housing construction).
This activity involved sharing sessions from Padang (represented by Mr. Robert Candra Eka Putra, Secretary of Regional Disaster Management Agency), Yogyakarta (by Mr. Budi Purwono, Head of Emergency, Logistics and Rehabilitation), Iriga City (by Ms. Marieser T. Almelor, Head of City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office), architect community (by Mr. Abdi Saputra), Islamic Relief (by Mr. Fahmi Ramatna), and Solidarity for Victims of Human Rights Violations (by Ms. Nurlela Lamasitudju).
Mayor of Palu and Secretary General UCLG ASPAC extended their welcoming remarks to the participants at the Opening of the Training.
