PU Ministry Repairs 38 River Mouths Affected by the Sumatra Disaster

The PU Ministry has repaired 38 river mouths affected by disasters in Aceh, North Sumatra and West Sumatra. (Photo: PU Ministry)

JAKARTA - The Ministry of Public Works (PU) has accelerated the handling of 38 river mouths affected by disasters in Aceh Province, North Sumatra (Sumut) and West Sumatra (Sumbar).

This is part of the effort to restore water resources infrastructure and reduce the risk of flooding and sedimentation in the downstream area.

Minister PU Dody Hanggodo said that each estuary has different characteristics.

So it requires a specific technical approach, both from the side of river morphology, sedimentation level and tidal influence.

"Most of the affected estuaries require handling using a dredging vessel (dredger), especially for large river estuaries that experience heavy subsidence due to post-disaster sedimentation," said Dody, quoted from a written statement, Monday, February 23.

Of the total 38 estuaries affected, 25 estuaries are national authority and 13 provincial authority estuaries.

All of these estuaries are handled in an integrated manner by the Ministry of PU together with the local government (Pemda) in order to accelerate post-disaster handling.

As of February 16, 2026 at 15.00 WIB, the average progress of handling the estuary has reached 35.5 percent.

For the estuary of national authority, the average progress reached 40 percent, while the estuary of provincial authority reached 31 percent. All work is targeted to be completed by October 2027.

The acceleration of the handling of the estuary is carried out to maintain the smoothness of the river flow system from upstream to downstream.

In its implementation, the PU Ministry coordinates with the Kuala Task Force formed by the Minister of Defense (Menhan) as a step to accelerate the deepening and normalization of the estuary in the affected areas.

The handling is carried out gradually and coordinated between the central government, local government and defense elements to ensure the effectiveness of technical interventions in each location.

The technical steps taken include dredging sedimentation and deepening the estuary channel using a standard long arm excavator, amphibious excavator, pontoon-based heavy equipment, and a dredging vessel (dredger) according to field conditions.

In addition, river channel normalization, bank reinforcement and the construction of sediment control infrastructure such as dams and other estuary safety structures were carried out.

The intervention is focused on key estuaries which play an important role in supporting the recovery of community economic activities in coastal and downstream areas.

"Accelerating the handling of estuaries is part of the infrastructure-based disaster mitigation strategy to strengthen regional resilience to extreme weather and climate change, as well as ensuring the protection of people in affected areas," added Dody.