Minister of Home Affairs Committed to Accelerating Post-disaster Access Opening in East Aceh

Minister of Home Affairs (Mendagri) Muhammad Tito Karnavian checks the progress of post-disaster recovery in East Aceh. (ANTARA)

JAKARTA - Minister of Home Affairs (Mendagri) Muhammad Tito Karnavian as Chairman of the Task Force (Kasatgas) for the Acceleration of Rehabilitation and Reconstruction after the Sumatra Disaster emphasized the government's commitment to accelerate the opening of access and housing arrangements after the disaster in East Aceh

Tito hopes that the acceleration of access opening and proper housing arrangement can support the recovery of the social and economic lives of affected people, as well as ensure that the rehabilitation and reconstruction process runs more effectively and sustainably.

"So this is one of our focuses for East Aceh, my first and second visits, I saw that there was progress. The mental of the Regent is also I see it is not weak. That is the most important thing, if the leader is strong, fight, all the Task Force will be enthusiastic," said Tito in his statement in Jakarta, Saturday.

The confirmation was conveyed by Tito when reviewing Sahraja Village, Pante Bidari District, East Aceh Regency, Aceh.

The village was quite heavily affected by flash floods. During the visit, Tito was accompanied by East Aceh Regent Iskandar Usman Al-Farlaky.

"All the houses here are not intact. Everything is destroyed, even on the roof of the school, there are very large logs. On the house there are also logs showing how high the flood is, the flood water. Everything is gone and everyone is displaced. Everything is heavily damaged, gone," said Tito.

Tito explained that the central and regional governments continued to work hard in an integrated manner to reopen access to the affected areas. He said that coordination was carried out with the National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB), the Ministry of Public Works (PU), and the local regional government so that the road access could be immediately passed by four-wheeled vehicles.

"We take care of it, the head of BNPB also takes care of it, and then any road access, as much as possible we can enter, even with trail vehicles for logistics delivery. Especially important besides being able to go through rivers like we tried to go through the river," he explained.

Minister of Home Affairs Tito also highlighted the severity of the access challenge to the affected locations. Until now, there are still affected areas in East Aceh that are isolated due to the interruption of road access, so that logistics distribution can only be carried out three days a week. To reach the residents' settlements, the team must cross the river.

"The location of one hamlet which is 60 [KK], if I'm not mistaken, ... . It is dropped every 3 days because the land road cannot," he said.

Apart from opening access, Tito also emphasized the importance of rearranging residents' post-disaster housing. He said that housing development must be adjusted to the social conditions and the wishes of the local community, not merely homogenized in one area or one large complex.

"Develop huntara. If you don't want it, just [build] permanent housing. The average person here doesn't want one plot, one complex, but they want their land, a higher place," he said.