PDIP Legislator Urges Determination Of Aceh-Sumatra National Disaster Status: What Longs To Go?

JAKARTA - Member of Commission V DPR RI from the PDIP faction Irine Yusiana Roba Putri, urged the government to immediately classify the floods and landslides that hit Aceh, North Sumatra and West Sumatra as national disasters. He considered that the government was slow to deal with this disaster situation.

In fact, according to Irine, the number of victims, evacuation conditions, and infrastructure damage has reached a very worrying stage and can no longer be handled only by local governments.

"There have been 918 fatalities, 582.540 displaced, 260 public facilities affected, 40 bridges and 70 roads heavily damaged, I think it is appropriate for the Government to determine the status of a national disaster in the disaster that occurred in Sumatra. What else is waiting?," said Irine, Saturday, December 6th.

Irine said the condition of the refugees was increasingly difficult due to inadequate shelter facilities, especially in the provision of logistics and basic necessities.

"There have been more than 500 thousand people displaced and tens of thousands of families have lost their homes. Facts in the field show that many refugee locations have minimal logistics as well as access to clean water and limited medical services," he said.

According to Irine, the determination of national disaster status provides significant benefits, especially in accelerating the distribution of aid by the central government. With this status, budget support and the recovery process can be carried out faster and more coordinated.

"One of the main benefits is that the central government can prioritize assistance. When the national emergency status is set, the budget allocation can be carried out quickly to distribute aid, improve infrastructure, and support the economic recovery of the affected communities," explained Irine.

"In a sense, when the central government intervenes, the aid process can be faster and more comprehensive," continued the PDIP legislator from the North Maluku electoral district.

Irine also emphasized the importance of additional energy and human resources needs to accelerate handling in affected areas.

"In addition, the emergency status makes it easier to coordinate aid in the field. The central government can deploy personnel ranging from volunteers, police to military officials to ensure assistance reaches areas that are difficult to reach", said Irine.

Irine considers this important considering the situation on the ground shows how limited regional equipment, logistics, and emergency response funds are. Therefore, the intervention of the central government is considered very urgent.

"Based on the current conditions in the field where very limited heavy equipment, logistics and human resources and also various regions do not have emergency response funds, it requires support and control from the center," he said.

Therefore, Irine assessed that the Regional Government needed central support for the handling, coordination, and recovery of this flood disaster.

Furthermore, Irine emphasized that the determination of the status of a national disaster is not just a formality, but an important step to ensure the acceleration of assistance and recovery for the affected communities.

"This is not just a status, but a matter of access to victims of aid, speed of evacuation of affected areas and certainty of recovery. So I hope that the government will immediately determine the status of a national disaster in disasters that occurred in Aceh and Sumatra," he concluded.