BALI – Makassar Mayor Moh Ramdhan “Danny” Pomanto has once again established himself as an equal to world leaders.
He was appointed as one of the speakers and responders at the 10th World Water Forum (WWF) 2024 in Bali along with regional leaders from Asia Pacific including Mayor of Kumamoto (Japan) Kazufumi Onishi, Governor of Quirino Province (Philippines) Dakila Carlo Cua, President of the Union of Local Authorities of the Philippines (ULAP), President of UCLG ASPAC.
Vice Mayor of Siem Reap (Kamboja) Azimah Math, Mayor of Nilphamari Municipality and President of Municipal Association of Bangladesh Dewan Kamal Ahmed, and Deputy Director of Hunan Xiangiang New Area Agriculture, Rural Affairs, Ecology and Environment Bureau Changsha City Jin Shengli were also appointed in the same line.
During the event, Danny Pomanto proposed the recommendation points in the framework of the world cities declaration on water in front of about 50 participants including governors, mayors, policy makers, planners, and local and regional government officials in Asia and the Pacific.
He explained that, since 1977, when the population reached 4.2 billion, the earth’s temperature increased by 0.2 degrees.
Meanwhile, today, the population has reached 8 billion and the temperature rise has reached 1.4 degrees.
This, he said, is the starting point for the disaster domino effect. The earth experiences an accumulation of disasters, causing massive and complex disaster risks.
He mentioned that there are multiple disasters, namely hydrometeorological, pandemic, geopolitical, and geomagnetic disasters.
“This is exacerbated by the cycle of geological disasters that affect the water balance,” Danny Pomanto said on the sidelines of an event at the BNDCC Hotel, Nusa Dua, Bali, Wednesday (22/5).
The seasons, for example, are no longer predictable. Nowadays, floods and droughts can occur in one year, which is unprecedented.
Based on his experience, he said that, last year, Makassar City experienced floods and droughts.
This condition made the city government take socially and spatially adaptive mitigation and adaptation measures.
“We learnt that community involvement and multi-stakeholder collaboration can accelerate disaster recovery,” he said in front of the important guests at the International Water Forum.
Therefore, he argued that the world urgently needs stronger and smarter water management.
At the end of his presentation, he said there were many lessons learnt from this World Water Forum event.
He also thanked all parties who have shared various knowledge and experiences with Makassar.
“Thank you to UCLG and UNCRD for inviting Makassar to this event,” he said.
“Let’s save our planet, let’s save our water. Act now, differently, and together,” he added.
Mayors from Japan, the Philippines, China, and Bangladesh attended the meeting, which was moderated by the Secretary General of UCLG ASPAC.
The following are Danny Pomanto’s recommendations which are joint commitments in the 10th WWF 2024 in Bali.
- strong mitigation and adaptation policies
- strong collaboration and coordination across levels of authority
- strong and adaptive leadership
- strong community engagement
- smart city approach to make cities smart and make people smart (smart solution)
- green technology commitment
- revised spatial plans (blue and green)
- decarbonisation and oxygenation initiatives
- social behavior change
