Revealed, This is the Reason for the Realization of Subsidized Houses in the Nias Islands Has Been Suspended Since 2022

JAKARTA - In the midst of the still high housing needs, the realization of the construction of subsidized houses in the Nias Islands, has actually been stopped for a long time.

In fact, the distribution of subsidized houses through the Housing Financing Liquidity Facility (FLPP) scheme in the region was last realized in 2022.

This fact was revealed during an audience between the Minister of Housing and Settlements (PKP) Maruarar Sirait, the People's Housing Savings Management Agency (BP Tapera) and the heads of the Nias Islands consisting of Nias Regency, North Nias, West Nias, South Nias and Gunungsitoli City in Jakarta, Thursday, June 11.

During the meeting, Nias Islands became one of the areas that received special attention from the government because people's access to subsidized houses is still very limited.

BP Tapera Commissioner Heru Pudyo Nugroho said that the island region in the western part of North Sumatra was considered to have a fairly large potential for housing development because land availability was still adequate and the community's housing needs continued to exist.

However, this potential has not been able to attract developers to build subsidized houses.

One of the problems that emerged in the hearing was the high cost of materials and construction in the archipelago.

This condition makes the current subsidized house price is considered not fully in accordance with the actual conditions of development in the field.

As a result, developers face challenges in maintaining business viability when building subsidized houses in areas with higher logistics costs than the main mainland.

Responding to this condition, the Minister of PKP Maruarar Sirait or Ara asked for further studies and research as the basis for evaluating the policy on subsidized house prices, especially for islands and areas that have special characteristics.

The study is expected to provide a more accurate picture of the cost of housing construction in areas such as Nias. So that the policies implemented can be more in line with field conditions.

Although the construction of subsidized houses through FLPP still faces obstacles, the government is still trying to expand public access to decent housing through other programs.

One of them is the Self-Help Housing Stimulus Assistance Program (BSPS) which in the 2026 fiscal year (TA) experienced an increase in allocation throughout the Nias Islands.

Based on the 2026 BSPS allocation plan in North Sumatra Province, Nias Regency received 528 units of assistance, Gunungsitoli City 300 units, West Nias Regency 653 units, South Nias Regency 526 units and Nias Regency 400 units.

The additional assistance was welcomed positively by the local government and is expected to reduce the poverty rate in the area, which is still at around 22 percent.

Apart from the issue of uninhabitable houses, a number of regional heads also conveyed other housing needs.

This starts from support for the education area, provision of decent housing to handling housing backlog which is still a homework in each region.

As a follow-up, the Ministry of PKP and BP Tapera plan to increase the socialization of the housing program in the Nias Islands so that the public can better understand the various assistance and financing schemes available.

Therefore, BP Tapera is committed to strengthening coordination with the entire housing ecosystem, ranging from local governments, developers, banking distributors to other stakeholders.

"We will strengthen coordination to increase the realization of the distribution of subsidized houses in the Nias Islands," he said as quoted from a written statement, Friday, June 12.

Through this coordination, the government hopes that the access of the people of Nias Islands to decent, affordable and quality housing can be more open, as well as supporting efforts to reduce poverty and improve the welfare of people in the outermost Indonesian archipelago.