Hundreds of Students Dispatched by BNPB to Verify Damaged Houses in East Aceh

JAKARTA - To speed up the process of verifying the damage to the houses of residents affected by the flood disaster accompanied by landslides in East Aceh Regency, Aceh, the National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB) involved hundreds of students.

The Deputy for Rehabilitation and Reconstruction of the BNPB, Jarwansah, in a statement received in Jakarta, Saturday, said that the involvement of students was carried out through technical guidance (bimtek) activities to collect damage to houses as part of assistance to local governments.

"A total of 220 students who reside in East Aceh attended the workshop. They were equipped with data collection materials and building damage indicators before being deployed for 10 days to 24 affected sub-districts to conduct a direct re-data collection based on by name by address," he said, quoting ANTARA, Saturday, January 17.

In the activity, it was emphasized that the assessment of the level of damage to houses refers to the applicable provisions, namely the category of minor damage with a damage level of 0-30 percent, moderate damage of 30-70 percent, and severe damage above 70 percent, according to the Minister of Public Works Regulation and BNPB implementation instructions.

Jarwansah explained that as stipulated, the usual assistance for affected residents is based on the classification of house damage, namely Rp. 15 million for minor damage, Rp. 30 million for moderate damage, and Rp. 60 million for severe damage in the form of house construction.

Thus, according to him, re-inventory is needed to ensure the accuracy of the target recipients of assistance and to ensure accountability for the use of disaster mitigation budgets.

"The results of this data collection will be the basis for the determination of a decision letter by the local government and matched with Dukcapil and BPS data so that its validity and accountability are guaranteed," he said.

BNPB hopes that all the data collection processes can be completed before the fasting of Ramadan, which is estimated to fall in February, so that affected people can immediately receive assistance and return to a decent dwelling.