Mataram Mayor H. Mohan Roliskana and Bandar Lampung Mayor Eva Dwiana, newly elected for the 2020-2024 period, separately affirmed their commitment to address climate change through the cities’ involvement in the Climate Resilient and Inclusive Cities (CRIC) Project and support efforts to integrate climate resilience in city development planning documents. In the meeting between the CRIC team and the two Mayors, the Mayors also committed to supporting the development of tools to address climate change in priority sectors, namely related to the management and utilization of waste into energy sources in Mataram and the development of a flood early warning system in Bandar Lampung.
Mataram and Bandar Lampung are two of CRIC’s 10 pilot cities. Five of these ten cities experienced leadership transitions after the simultaneous regional head elections on December 9, 2020. Through this meeting, CRIC ensured that regional heads in CRIC pilot cities are also at the forefront of climate change control efforts that are aligned with Indonesia’s national development agenda and global commitments.
In Mataram, Mayor-elect H. Mohan Roliskana stated, (7/4), that he is ready to continue the commitment to organize the CRIC Project in Mataram City. In Mataram, waste management efforts are a priority sector that will be focused on. During the visit to Mataram, CRIC Project Coordinator Putra Dwitama, among others, also explained about the opportunity to replicate the waste management model into compost and electrical energy (Integrated Resource Recovery Center/IRRC) that UCLG ASPAC has successfully implemented in Malang District.
The Mayor of Mataram welcomed this proposal considering that urban waste is one of the crucial issues in Mataram. The development of waste-to-energy (WtE) conversion devices is also expected to be able to reduce the volume of waste while generating renewable electrical energy sources. As planned in the Regional Spatial Plan, Bappeda of Mataram City has prepared a potential location to build an integrated TPS where the WtE model referring to IRRC will be developed. The proposed location is integrated with the Main Market to reduce the transportation cost of transporting waste.
Flood early warning system
Meanwhile in Bandar Lampung, Mayor-elect Eva Dwiana welcomed the cooperation between CRIC and Bandar Lampung City, especially in the effort to overcome urban flooding. “Flooding is one of the main problems faced by Bandar Lampung. Hopefully, by becoming one of the CRIC pilot cities, we will get support to overcome flooding,” said the Mayor of Bandar Lampung.
In Bandar Lampung, CRIC will, among others, help the city develop an early warning system tool to overcome urban flooding that occurs 2-3 times every year. In addition, through the establishment of the CRIC Working Group (Pokja), CRIC encourages the mainstreaming of climate resilience issues into the RPJMD of Bandar Lampung City which is currently being drafted. CRIC’s contribution through the integration of climate change issues in planning and development documents, development of tools, formation of Working Groups and training on Climate Action Plans, is expected to help the city to be climate resilient.
In this meeting in Bandar Lampung attended by the CRIC team (Arie Setiawan, Maria Serenade and Anwar Hadipriyanto), the Mayor also emphasized“the need for collaboration between national, provincial and city level governments as well as with neighboring districts” to address flooding. A collaborative approach that transcends administrative boundaries, sectors and levels of government is needed to address flooding and climate change.
In the case of flooding, the Mayor emphasized the need for collaboration with Pesawaran Regency and South Lampung Regency, which are both affected by flooding. This collaboration is also expected to extend to the process of developing and implementing a flood early warning system, involving universities and community groups.
In 2021, CRIC, through its European partners, will develop tools related to waste management, early warning systems and water and sanitation. These tools are expected to be adopted in the city by 2022.