Gov’t Reviews Post-Disaster Rehabilitation Progress in Sumatra

President Prabowo Subianto Monday (11/09) presided over a limited meeting at Merdeka Palace in Jakarta to assess rehabilitation progress one year after floods and landslides hit the provinces of Aceh, North Sumatra, and West Sumatra.

According to Minister of Home Affairs Tito Karnavian, who helms the Task Force for the Acceleration of Sumatra Post-Disaster Rehabilitation and Reconstruction, the meeting discussed progress in rehabilitation and reconstruction, as well as measures to mitigate disaster risks in the three provinces.

“The President wanted an update on post-disaster recovery efforts in Sumatra, having established the Task Force for the Acceleration of Post-Disaster Rehabilitation and Reconstruction in Sumatra, which covers three provinces—Aceh, North Sumatra, and West Sumatra,” he said in a press statement following the meeting.

Tito pointed out that the November 2025 disaster affected 53 regencies and cities and 4,533 villages and subdistricts, forcing more than 2.1 million people to seek shelter.

The disaster, Tito added, damaged more than 184,000 houses, 4,922 educational facilities, 954 healthcare facilities, 1,593 places of worship, and thousands of road sections and bridges.

“Personally, this [disaster] is one of the most devastating disasters I’ve ever experienced. It affected three provinces and displaced more than 2.1 million people,” he said.

Since the start of the disaster response, the Central Government has provided approximately Rp12.34 trillion in budgetary support to affected regional governments. This includes Rp268 billion in emergency expenditure assistance, Rp10.64 trillion in additional regional transfers, and a further Rp1.4 trillion in transfers to regional governments (TKD) to support local disaster response efforts.

“Let me remind regional heads to make the best use of the additional TKD allocated by the President,” he said.

The Government has also developed a rehabilitation and reconstruction master plan through 2028, covering 11,520 activities, including road and bridge construction, river restoration, school and housing rehabilitation, and recovery efforts in the agriculture and fisheries sectors. Implementing the plan over three years will require Rp100.67 trillion.

“The plan brings together proposals from various ministries and regional governments, including regional initiatives. The National Development Planning Agency (Bappenas) consolidated these into 11,520 activities, including road and bridge construction, river restoration, school rehabilitation, housing construction, and paddy field restoration,” he said.

For the record, the restoration of basic facilities continues to make significant progress. All 87 hospitals have resumed operations, and classes have resumed in 4,823 of the 4,922 affected school buildings, while the remaining 99 continue to use emergency classrooms. National roads and bridges across the three provinces are now fully operational, while, rehabilitation of regional infrastructure remains ongoing.

In the housing sector, construction of temporary housing is 99.84 percent complete, with 20,803 units built. The Government is now accelerating the construction of 57,027 permanent homes through various schemes, including rebuilding at original sites, self-managed construction, and development in communal areas.

“The President wants to ensure that everything is progressing as it should. We explained that this is no easy task, given the extensive area affected, spanning 53 regencies and cities. It takes time,” he said, adding that the Government aims to complete the rehabilitation and reconstruction by 2028. (BPMI of Presidential Secretariat) (DH/MEP)