RESEARCH AND TECHNOLOGY MINISTER WELCOMES

UNCLAS JAKARTA 002625 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS DEPT FOR OES/OA, INR/B, EAP/MTS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: TPHY EAID KSCA PINR PREL ID SUBJECT: RESEARCH AND TECHNOLOGY MINISTER WELCOMES CONTINUED U.S. ENGAGEMENT ON TSUNAMI WARNING SYSTEM ¶1. (SBU) Minister of Research and Technology Kadiman told the Ambassador during a September 17 courtesy call that he welcomed continued U.S. involvement on Indonesia's efforts to build a national tsunami warning system. He expressed particular appreciation for Embassy efforts towards developing a public-private partnership involving corporations based in Indonesia. The Minister also described the dual challenge of planning both the structural engineering system elements and the community training requirements for an end-to-end tsunami warning system. Alarms and sirens add little value without community awareness and training on appropriate emergency response. ¶2. (SBU) Acknowledging the September 12 earthquake/tsunami off of the southwest coast of Sumatra, the Ambassador stressed the importance of continuing U.S. collaboration on the Indonesian Tsunami Warning System. The Ambassador also applauded Indonesia's efforts in building up its primary and secondary school system but stressed the importance of also developing sufficient advanced technical education at the university level to help address Indonesia's science and technology challenges. The Ambassador noted that an expert from the U.S. Geological Survey had arrived in Indonesia for mudflow consultation and could also meet with Research and Technology Ministry agencies if appropriate. ¶3. (SBU) Biographical note: Minister Kadiman has been a respected member of President Yudhoyono's cabinet since October 2004. He came under criticism in July 2006 when a local tsunami hit Java, killing approximately 600 people. Kadiman was criticized for his Ministry's failure to have built up sufficient early warning system technology for creating a tsunami alert. Kadiman was born in Bandung, West Java in 1954. He earned a doctoral degree in engineering from the Australian National University in 1988. He has been a rector at the Bandung Institute of Technology (ITB) since October 2001. HUME