Deputy Minister Fahri Hamzah Emphasized That The Construction Of 3 Million Houses Must Be Earthquake-Resilient

Deputy Minister of Housing and Settlement Areas (PKP) Fahri Hamzah. (Photo: Theresia Agatha/VOI)

Deputy Minister of Housing and Settlement Areas (PKP) Fahri Hamzah ensured that his party prioritized earthquake-resistant buildings in the construction of the program of 3 million houses.

Fahri emphasized that this step was to anticipate several points that have the potential for a megathrust earthquake.

"There must be (earthquake resistance), yes, there should no longer be a house where the earthquake is lost," Fahri told reporters at the office of the Coordinating Ministry for Infrastructure and Regional Development, Jakarta, Wednesday, January 8.

Fahri said that later the construction of houses in the program would pass a strict licensing and based on research that was previously also available at the Ministry of Public Works (PU).

"Well, now in our scheme to organize new housing, we will strictly include that the construction and building really comes from one research that is approved by the government that this is worth building or not," he said.

He emphasized that the Ministry of PKP and related parties would evaluate why many people's homes were unable to withstand the earthquake.

So far, Fahri said, as many as 80 percent of people's houses could collapse with 7-scale richter (SR) earthquake shocks.

"Indeed, from now on we want to evaluate why many Indonesian people's homes, if there are only 7 earthquakes on a meriter scale, 80 percent can run out. Now, in research, especially in the old ministry, the PU has a lot of structures (building) built to be more earthquake resistant," he concluded.