Coordinating Minister For Human Development And Culture Asks For Disasters In West Sumatra To Be A Special Attention

Minister of Human Development and Culture (PMK) Muhadjir Effendy. (doc the Coordinating Ministry for Human Development and Culture)

Coordinating Minister for Human Development and Culture (Menko PMK) Muhadjir Effendy said there must be special attention to dealing with disasters in West Sumatra (West Sumatra).

"West Sumatra is the province with the highest risk among other provinces in Indonesia, because in 2023 alone, out of 5,400 disasters in Indonesia, 460 have occurred in West Sumatra. For this reason, there must be special attention in disaster management in West Sumatra," said Muhadjir at the office of the Coordinating Ministry for Human Development and Culture, Jakarta, Tuesday.

He also stated that in the next one or two days his party would review the disaster site in West Sumatra.

"Because right now, yes, we have to coordinate. First yesterday there was a landslide on the South Coast and we haven't finished talking about it yet, then we will provide a solution, followed by the first flash flood whose victims are relatively not followed, and now the third flash flood is very deadly," he said.

He said that the condition of the flash flood this time was much worse than before because it took quite a lot of victims.

Muhadjir also said that disasters that occurred in West Sumatra were very diverse, ranging from eruptions, hydrometeorology, to other disasters that continued to hit the province.

"The flash floods in Padang Panjang yesterday were only about 13-20 meters, now this is very high," he said.

He stated that currently the Coordinating Ministry for Human Development and Culture continues to coordinate with related parties to find permanent solutions to overcome cold lava due to the eruption of Mount Marapi to flash floods in West Sumatra.

"Hopefully in the near future we can find a permanent solution, especially how to deal with cold lava from Mount Marapi, that's the main thing. It can be ascertained that if there is an eruption, then there will be a flood, it will definitely be followed later, which yesterday may be a bit of off guard we are, and this is a very valuable lesson even though it is very painful," he said.

Although he has not directly visited the field, he emphasized that the handling has been carried out by the Head of the National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB), the National SAR Agency, and of course coordinating with the Governor of West Sumatra.

"Later I will come there soon to find out what the permanent solution will be, because we don't want it to happen again and again, and I have asked the Head of BNPB for a while to focus on West Sumatra, we will finish the others," he said.

For information, at least 52 people died and 17 others disappeared after a cold lava flood destroyed houses, buildings and public facilities in West Sumatra Province.

"The search for missing persons continued on Tuesday because several heavy equipment had been added to the scene to assist the operation," said Head of the Rehabilitation and Reconstruction Division of the West Sumatra Regional Disaster Management Agency (BPBD) Ilham Wahab.

"The number of bodies that have been found currently is 52 people, and the number that is still missing is 17 people. This figure will continue to change because people continue to report about their missing family members," he said.