Hon John Carter
Minister of Civil Defence

3 December 2008
Media Statement
2004 Boxing Day Tsunami – Lessons for New Zealand

Public lecture by Dr Kuntoro Mangkusubroto
Wellington Town Hall, Illot Theatre
5.30pm – 7pm, Monday, 8 December 2008

Dr Kuntoro Mangkusubroto is responsible for Indonesia’s US$7 billion four-year programme to rebuild Aceh and Nias after the Boxing Day 2004 tsunami and subsequent earthquakes in 2005 and 2006.

New Zealand’s Minister of Civil Defence, John Carter, said Dr Kuntoro Mangkusubroto is in New Zealand as part of an Indonesian delegation of key government officials, senior university management and engineers.

GNS Science and the Indonesian Embassy have arranged five days of meetings, workshops and visits to engineering projects. New Zealand Government Ministers, Crown Research Institutes, universities, government agencies, and engineering and other businesses working with Indonesian authorities will all be involved. Representatives from the Geoscience Australia and the Australian government aid agency, AusAid, are also travelling to New Zealand to meet the Indonesian delegation.

“I am delighted that Dr Kuntoro Mangkusubroto has made time in his very full schedule to give a public lecture,” Mr Carter said.

The objectives of the visit include:
• providing New Zealand support to the University of Gadjah Mada, Yogyakarta, to establish a National Geosciences Centre and Local Government Network for disaster risk management
• giving New Zealand agencies a better understanding of Indonesia’s needs
• giving Indonesian agencies the opportunity to learn first-hand from agencies, scientists and engineers in New Zealand
• sharing ideas for national and international collaboration in disaster risk management
• continuing to build relationships between key New Zealand and Indonesian organisations and individuals
• providing an opportunity for interested New Zealand professionals and the public to hear of the reconstruction work in Aceh and Nias.

“Members of the public are most welcome to attend the lecture,” Mr Carter said. “Dr Kuntoro Mangkusubroto is a world renowned engineer and an excellent presenter. He will be speaking about the truly extraordinary reconstruction project that has followed the tsunami and earthquakes.”

The lecture will be chaired by Greater Wellington Regional Council Chair Fran Wilde.

“Earthquakes and tsunami are hazards that we also face in New Zealand and the geography of Aceh and Nias is not that different to Wellington and many other parts of our own country. We can learn from what happened in Indonesia and from its recovery programme and we can share information about our preparedness programmes,” Mr Carter said.

ends

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