BNPB: 3,614 Houses And Public Facilities Damaged Due To Mount Ruang Eruption

Air photos of the condition of the residential area of Laingpatehi Village at the foot of Mount Ruang, North Sulawesi, Friday (19/4/2024) at 12.07 WITA. BETWEEN/HO-Basarnas North Sulawesi/aa.

JAKARTA - The National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB) noted that the total houses of residents and public facilities damaged in Tagulandang, Sitaro Islands Regency, North Sulawesi, were affected by 3,614 units of Mount Ruang eruption material.

Deputy for Rehabilitation and Reconstruction of BNPB Jarwansyah said that of the more than three thousand houses damaged, there were two churches and one elementary school (SD) building.

Each of the damaged public facilities is spread across two urban villages and 13 villages, including in the areas of Pumpente, Laing Patatehi, Mahangiang, Tulusan Barukka Pepehe, Apengsala, Lesah Rende, Pahiama, Boto, Leseh, Bahoi, and Balehumara.

BNPB confirmed that the damage with a light to heavy scale occurred after the building was hit by the ejected material and shaking when Mount Ruang erupted on Thursday (18/4). The damage was also exacerbated due to the distance of the house with the peak of Mount Ruang which was close to below a radius of about 8-10 kilometers.

"What must be grateful is that so far there have been no reports of casualties due to this volcanology disaster," he said.

He ensured that the government would find a way out related to the rehabilitation of the damage caused after the conditions were really conducive.

One of the things needed to accelerate rehabilitation was the realization of data collection on affected residents and complete housing ownership data.

Thus, he said, BNBP hopes that the data collection will be hastened by all elements involved in emergency operations to deal with the Mount Ruang eruption disaster, including the local government level (Pemda) task force.

This, according to him, is because the data will serve as a reference for meeting needs, including when rehabilitation and reconstruction programs are carried out in parallel.

"Apart from all of that, so far the efforts of the joint team in handling the emergency and rescue of the affected communities have gone well," he said.