Losses Due To Floods In Padang Pariaman Reaches IDR 268.5 Billion

JAKARTA - The Padang Pariaman Regency Government (Pemkab), West Sumatra (West Sumatra) estimates that the regional losses due to disasters caused by extreme weather in the past week reached more than Rp268.5 billion.

"Many infrastructures were damaged in Padang Pariaman, only the Koto Buruak bridge which collapsed losses was estimated at more than Rp50 billion," said Padang Pariaman Regional Secretary Rudy Repenaldi Rilis as reported by ANTARA, Saturday, November 29.

He said the large number of losses caused by the extreme weather was because Padang Pariaman experienced floods, landslides, and fallen trees which damaged many bridges and damaged roads, collapsed roads, so that access was broken, irrigation was damaged, and 341 hectares of rice fields and 106 hectares of corn land damaged.

Furthermore, he said, due to a number of disasters, many houses were damaged and even washed away by floods, educational facilities and other public facilities were also damaged which required large costs to build and repair them.

As a result of the flood, 10,575 residents of Padang Pariaman were recorded as affected, thousands of whom had to evacuate. To meet the needs of these residents, the Padang Pariaman Regency Government established a number of public kitchens.

The magnitude of the impact of the flood, because apart from extreme weather, a number of rivers that lead to Padang Pariaman under the authority of the central government must be normalized.

Although the Padang Pariaman Regency Government together with a number of parties have carried out mutual cooperation in cleaning a number of river flows a few months ago, the efforts made have not yielded optimal results.

Therefore, the Padang Pariaman Regency Government requested assistance from the provincial and central governments to help repair infrastructure damaged by disasters because the area was unable to repair it.

Previously, the Koto Buruak Bridge in Lubuak Aluang District, Padang Pariaman Regency, West Sumatra collapsed on Thursday (27/11) at around 09.00 WIB, due to the high river water discharge due to the extreme weather that hit the area since the past week.

"The Koto Buruak Bridge just broke up. Innalilahi wainnailaihiraji'un, when this bridge broke up, a mother riding a motorcycle with her child fell with a bridge," said Padang Pariaman Regent John Kenedy Azis in Lubuak Aluang.

The bridge with a length of 185 meters is a vital infrastructure in Padang Pariaman, because it is the main access of citizens to the center of government and the economy.