Minister of Home Affairs asks local governments to complete the data collection of Huntap residents

JAKARTA - The Minister of Home Affairs (Mendagri) and Chairman of the Post-disaster Rehabilitation and Reconstruction (PRR) Task Force (Satgas) Tito Karnavian asked the regional government to immediately accelerate the data collection of residents who will occupy permanent housing (huntap) for disaster victims.

"All regional heads say the same thing, ask for a quick huntap to be built. But the data must be clear first," said Tito as quoted by ANTARA, Tuesday, March 17.

This was conveyed by Tito when attending a social assistance distribution activity for disaster-affected people in Idi Rayeuk, East Aceh Regency, Aceh.

Tito said that the acceleration of data collection was important so that the central government could immediately start building permanent houses for affected people.

According to him, regional heads need to form a special team or task force to list the choices of residents, whether they choose the in situ or communal scheme in the development of huntap.

He explained that the in situ scheme means that the house is rebuilt on the location or land owned by the residents themselves. In this scheme, residents can choose to have their house built by the government or build it themselves with the help of funds of around Rp. 60 million.

"When asked by residents, you want to live in an institution developed by BNPB or want to build it yourself with an index of Rp. 60 million. But the land must be your own land," he said.

Meanwhile, the communal scheme means residents will be placed in a new residential area that is built together in one complex prepared by the government.

For this scheme, the local government is asked to prepare land that can be used as a construction site, either from land owned by the local government, the central government, state-owned enterprises, or through the purchase of land from the community at a reasonable price.

"If there is no government land, you can also buy land owned by the community at a reasonable price," he said.

Tito emphasized that the choice of residents must be clearly recorded through a form and accompanied by a statement so that the central government can determine the pattern of permanent housing development.

"The sooner we know who wants to be in situ and who chooses the complex, the easier it will be for us to coordinate the construction of the huntap," he said.

He also reminded local governments to actively conduct data collection in the field and not just wait for assistance from the central government.

"If the data is not there, what will be built. The public has been clamoring for a huntap to be made, but the regional government is not working," said the Minister of Home Affairs.

According to Tito, the construction of housing remains an important step in the recovery of people's lives after the disaster, after refugees were previously housed in temporary housing or received rental assistance.