Fadli Zon: 100 Cultural Heritage in Sumatra Affected by Disaster, Ministry of Education and Culture Prepare Rp11 Billion

JAKARTA - The Ministry of Culture (Kemenbud) has prepared a budget of around Rp. 11 billion for the initial phase of cleaning and repairing cultural heritage that was damaged by hydrometeorological disasters that hit a number of areas on the island of Sumatra.

"What is clear is that we are preparing from our efficiency (Ministry of Culture), it was about 11-12 billion, yes, for cleaning, because it was a lot, this is the initial stage," said Culture Minister (Menbud) Fadli Zon, quoted by Antara, Sunday, December 21.

Minister of Culture Fadli Zon said that the number of cultural sites in the Sumatra region, namely the provinces of Aceh, North Sumatra, West Sumatra that were affected by flash floods and landslides was identified as increasing to more than 100.

"Cultural heritage in Sumatra that is affected by the disaster of flash floods, landslides, we continue to identify, the number is indeed increasing, it was 43, 70, and now the number is more than 100. Because yesterday it was difficult to reach the disconnected areas," he said.

Minister of Culture Fadli Zon said that the inventory of damaged cultural heritage was carried out by the Cultural Preservation Agency (BPK) in each of the affected areas, where the results showed that most of the objects were slightly to moderately damaged, while a number of others were recorded to have suffered heavy damage.

"We have prepared the budget for assistance, especially those that are slightly, moderately, and severely damaged. The most damaged are museums, there are tombs that are also cultural heritage," said Menbud Fadli.

Fadli added that the process of handling cultural heritage affected by the disaster was targeted to begin next week by involving cooperation and mutual cooperation of local residents.

"We have prepared and will do it next week in Aceh, North Sumatra, West Sumatra. Soon, we will certainly work together with the local community. We know that our priority is the community yesterday, when a disaster occurs, we do emergency response mitigation," said Fadli.