Commission II Of The House Of Representatives Asks The Government To Activate Emergency Funds For Sumatra Disaster Management

Illustration. Houses affected by disaster. (doc BPBD)

Member of Commission II of the House of Representatives Muhammad Khozin asked the central government to immediately take quick steps in dealing with floods and landslides that hit Aceh, North Sumatra, and West Sumatra.

Khozin assessed that the activation of emergency funds from the state budget was an urgent need to strengthen efforts to save residents and deal with the impact of disasters.

"In the midst of fiscal limitations in the regions due to the cut in Transfers to Regions (TKD), the activation of emergency funds sourced from the important APBN will soon be allocated," said Khozin in his statement, Sunday, December 30.

Khozin emphasized that the use of emergency funds is needed so that local governments have room to move quickly in seeking rescue and meeting the basic needs of affected residents.

He referred to the provisions of Article 296 of Law Number 23 of 2014 concerning Regional Government and Government Regulation Number 44 of 2012 as the legal basis for disbursing emergency funds when disasters cannot be handled by the Regional Government.

Regarding this, Khozin asked for coordination between ministries. "We encourage the Ministry of Home Affairs to immediately coordinate with the regional government and the Ministry of Finance to allocate emergency funds sourced from the state budget," said Khozin.

The legislator from the East Java IV electoral district emphasized the importance of quick steps by the central government to ensure basic services continue to run in the affected areas.

"This is to ensure that basic services for the community after the disaster are still optimized by the regional government," explained Khozin.

He assessed that the limited regional government fiscal space made central government support crucial. "In the midst of regional fiscal limitations, the role of the central government in affirmative policies in the fiscal sector is important," he said.

Khozin added that disaster management is an important authority of the local government in accordance with the mandate of Law Number 24 of 2017, including the fulfillment of citizens' rights, community protection, reducing risks, and allocation of disaster funds.

"Leaders in the regions seem alert in implementing emergency response. Collaboration is needed between the central government and local governments in this emergency response phase," he concluded.