Ministry of Social Affairs Disburses Rp89 Billion in Aid for Flood and Landslide Victims in Sumatra

JAKARTA - The Ministry of Social Affairs (Kemensos) has disbursed assistance worth more than Rp89 billion for handling floods and landslides that hit a number of areas in West Sumatra, North Sumatra, and Aceh.

Minister of Social Affairs Saifullah Yusuf or Gus Ipul said the assistance was a form of the government's commitment to ensuring that the basic needs of disaster-affected people were met quickly and evenly.

"The total assistance from the Ministry of Social Affairs as of December 11 yesterday has reached more than Rp. 89 billion," said Gus Ipul at the Presidential Palace, Jakarta, Monday, December 15.

He explained that the initial step taken by the Ministry of Social Affairs was to ensure the readiness and availability of logistics stocks in all affected areas, ranging from the provincial level to districts, sub-districts, and villages. The readiness of logistics is the main foundation in responding to emergency disaster conditions.

In addition to the distribution of logistics, the Ministry of Social Affairs also operates a public kitchen to meet the food needs of refugees. Currently, as many as 39 public kitchens are active in the Sumatra and Aceh regions with a production capacity of more than 400,000 meals per day, although this number is dynamic and adjusts to field conditions.

"The operation of our public kitchen is carried out together with BNPB, TNI, and Polri so that the service to the refugees runs effectively and is coordinated," he said.

Kemensos has also distributed regular rice assistance to disaster-affected areas. The total rice delivered reached more than 100 tons, including for Aceh and several areas in Sumatra.

"We also send regular rice to Aceh and the Sumatra region with a total of more than 100 tons," said Gus Ipul.

Furthermore, Gus Ipul said that the logistics assistance and basic needs fulfillment services were expected to support the process of post-disaster community recovery. In addition, the Ministry of Social Affairs also proposed an additional social assistance scheme to President Prabowo Subianto.

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"We propose adaptive social assistance in the context of economic recovery of victims of natural disasters, in the form of temporary direct cash assistance (BLTS) for disasters," he said.

The disaster BLTS scheme is expected to help affected people meet their living needs during the transition to post-disaster economic recovery.

"This is our proposal to the President so that the affected people can immediately rise," concluded Gus Ipul.