Wamenhut ensures the acceleration of the cleaning of wood swept away by floods

JAKARTA - Deputy Minister of Forestry (Wamenhut) Rohmat Marzuki said that cross-sectoral collaboration efforts were carried out to accelerate the handling of the impact of the Sumatra flood, including accelerating the cleaning of wood material swept away by the flood.

Minister of Finance Rohmat has chaired a Coordination Meeting for Cleaning Wood Material Carried Away by Floods involving the Ministry of Forestry (Kemenhut) as well as various elements of ministries and agencies and local governments on Sunday (21/12).

"According to the instructions from the Minister of Finance, this morning we held a meeting regarding the cleaning of wood materials carried away by the flood," he said as quoted by ANTARA, Monday, December 22.

He emphasized the importance of evaluating the progress of cleaning up wood materials carried away by floods in Padang in West Sumatra, Aceh Tamiang and North Aceh in Aceh, as well as South Tapanuli in North Sumatra, while encouraging acceleration so that the process runs smoothly and quickly.

The meeting was attended by representatives of local governments, BNPB elements, as well as support from the TNI and Polri. The Secretary General of the Ministry of Forestry conveyed that cross-party coordination continued to be strengthened, especially for the addition of heavy equipment in the affected areas.

He received a report on the condition of wood cleaning where in West Sumatra the cleaning of wood materials on the coast of Padang has begun by involving eight heavy equipment units and the active participation of the community. The hope is that in the next 4-5 days the wood material around the beach can be cleaned thoroughly, even though the thickness of the wood material is quite high.

In Aceh Tamiang, Aceh, centralized cleaning was carried out in the Pesantren Darul Muchsin area with a plan to operate eight excavators. Based on drone measurements, the area of the wood pile reached about two hectares with a height of up to four meters and a volume of about 80 thousand cubic meters. The cleaning work is estimated to take 7 days.

For the North Sumatra region, the cleaning of wood material in the Garoga River has been running for almost 20 days and has left less than 20 percent of the initial condition.

However, the challenge of access to the location slowed the arrival of heavy equipment. The joint team of the Ministry of Forestry, TNI, and Polri was deployed to normalize the river, build an emergency bridge, and clean residents' homes and public facilities.

The Minister of Finance also directed that the cleaned wood could be allocated appropriately.

"Please arrange and allocate these cleaned wood, which is thrown into the landfill, which can be used to help build temporary housing for flood victims," said the Minister of Finance.

Regarding the potential danger of remaining wood in the upstream river, the Deputy Minister of Forestry emphasized anticipatory steps.

"In principle, we fully support it, and regarding the wood that is still in the upstream of the Garoga River, I ask the UPT to fly a drone to see it, find possible access to reach it, the wood must be measured to reduce the potential for hitting the wood carried away by the river if the rainfall increases again," said Rohmat Marzuki.