Kemenhut Continues to Clean Up Flood Waste Wood in Aceh and North Sumatra
JAKARTA - The Ministry of Forestry (Kemenhut) continues to continue handling and cleaning the remaining wood from the flood disaster in the Sumatra region, with the main focus in Langkahan District, North Aceh Regency, as well as a number of locations in North Sumatra Province.
Head of the Gunung Leuser National Park Office (BBTNGL) Subhan said that the current cleaning was centered on Geudumbak Village, Langkahan District, which still had access problems due to piles of flood debris.
"The wood that can still be used has been collected at the scene and measured by the BPHL team. The results were recorded as 103 wooden logs or the equivalent of 93.11 cubic meters," said Subhan, quoted by Antara, Wednesday, January 7.
He explained that the handling was carried out by a joint team from the Ministry of Finance consisting of BBTNGL, the Natural Resources Conservation Agency (BKSDA), the River Basin Management Agency (BPDAS), the Forest Area Stabilization Agency (BPKH), and the Sumatra Regional Gakkum Agency. The team worked together with related elements by deploying a total of 23 heavy equipment units.
The details of the heavy equipment include 21 units belonging to the Ministry of Social Affairs, consisting of 10 capit excavators, nine excavators, and two bulldozers. In addition, the TNI also deployed one bulldozer and one excavator, as well as two excavators from the Ministry of Public Works (PU).
One unit of heavy equipment was also used to help clean the ditch and the yard of SMP Negeri 3 Langkahan. Meanwhile, around 50 other Kemenhut personnel cleaned SD Negeri 4 Langkahan, including one library room, one sports warehouse, and four bathrooms.
Subhan added, based on field monitoring, the utilization of residual wood from disasters by the humanitarian institution Rumah Zakat together with the community is estimated to reach around three cubic meters, with the support of seven units of machine saws.
"The accumulated use of wood from December 29, 2025 to January 3, 2026 is estimated to reach around 18.5 cubic meters. This data is still provisional and will continue to be updated," he said.
Until now, there are three temporary housing units still under construction in the affected area.
In Aceh Tamiang Regency, the North Sumatra BPKH personnel together with the Manggala Agni team are still continuing to clean the residents' houses from the remaining wood materials in the residential corridors as part of the acceleration of post-disaster recovery.
Meanwhile, in North Sumatra Province, the Ministry of Social Affairs team lowered an excavator heavy equipment to prepare the location for the construction of permanent housing on PTPN land. In addition, the team received a report of the discovery of a large amount of wood in the Batang Toru River, specifically in the Aek Rambe branch, North Sumatra.