DPR Urges Government To Send Large Aid For Bandang Aceh And Sumatra Floods

Illustration of the flood aid for Aceh Sumatra (Between)

Member of Commission V DPR RI Irmawan, urged the central government to immediately send large-scale emergency assistance to areas affected by flash floods and landslides in Aceh and a number of areas in Sumatra.

The reason is, food stocks in a number of affected locations are running low, even residents who are victims have experienced hunger, so that looting action began to occur due to increasingly critical situations.

"The conditions in the field are very concerning. Many areas are isolated for more than a week without food. There are people who survive by eating only raw bananas. Food stocks have run out, aid has not yet entered, and residents are starving. This situation has caused some places to start looting," said Irmawan to reporters, Wednesday, December 3.

The legislator from Aceh said that infrastructure damage in the affected areas was very severe. Especially the national road which is the main route for the distribution of logistics is completely cut off.

In fact, not only because of landslides, said Irmawan, the main route was damaged because the road was washed away by the current.

Many roads are completely lost. There are even villages that are completely lost. In some areas, if there are five bridges, the five are missing. If there are ten, all of them will also be washed away," he said.

Irmawan also said that a number of districts could not be accessed by land, so all aid had to be sent by helicopter. However, he said, the availability of fleets was not sufficient to reach the estimated number of refugees of one million people.

According to Irmawan, almost all affected districts have stated that they are unable to handle disasters. He emphasized that the local government does not have a budget for emergency repairs, while hospitals do not function optimally due to power outages and fuel shortages.

"If this condition is allowed, the next death toll will no longer be due to flooding, but from hunger and disease," he stressed.

The member of the commission in charge of transportation assessed that the flash floods that hit Aceh, North Sumatra and West Sumatra had met the elements of determining the National Disaster.

"The scale of the damage and the number of victims is very clear. This is not an ordinary disaster. Many call it land tsunami'. Determination of National Disasters is important so that handling can be carried out in total by the central government," said Irmawan.

He also reminded the potential for increased social turmoil. In addition to hunger and looting, said Irmawan, energy supply was cut off, communication networks were paralyzed, and conditions in the evacuation were getting worse.

"Aid from Malaysia has actually arrived at several points. This should not happen. The central government has the capacity to deal with major disasters like this. Therefore, we ask for a quick reaction before the victims increase," he said.

The member of the PKB faction in the DPR said that his party in Aceh was still coordinating with the party structure in the regions. However, said Irmawan, several areas, including Bireuen and Aceh Tamiang, could not be contacted because communication access was cut off.

"The easy-to-reach evacuation conditions have received relative assistance. But isolated areas really need top priority," he concluded.