Repeated natural disasters have always revealed two things at once: the fragility of our disaster-management institutions, and the eagerness of political figures to fill that vacuum. The latest example comes not from a minister or national agency, but from former West Java deputy governor Dedi Mulyadi, whose high-visibility interventions in West Sumatra, North Sumatra and Aceh have dominated social media feeds more effectively than the central government’s own response. To subscribe please click here
