Gerindra Legislators Ask The Government To Immediately State The Status Of The National Disaster Of Sumatra: Local Governments Are Not Strong In Handling

The condition of Jorong Kayu Pasak settlement after being hit by floods in Nagari Salareh Aia, Agam, West Sumatra/ANTARA PHOTO/Wahdi Septiawan/rwa

JAKARTA - Member of the House of Representatives from the Gerindra faction, Sugiat Santoso, asked the government to immediately establish national disaster status for floods and landslides that hit Aceh, North Sumatra, and West Sumatra.

Sugiat said the local government (Pemda) was not strong enough to deal with the impact of disasters that occurred in a number of parts of North Sumatra.

According to him, it is necessary to intervene by the central government to restore damaged infrastructure, send food stocks to restore the mentality of the disaster-affected communities.

"I think the district, city governments, provincial governments are not strong enough to handle this alone. It is necessary to intervene directly from the central government and all relevant state institutions such as the TNI-Polri," said Sugiat at the DPR building, Senayan, Jakarta, Wednesday, December 3.

The Gerindra legislator for the electoral district of North Sumatra III admitted that he was sad to see the post-disaster conditions when he directly inspected the locations affected by flash floods and landslides, especially in the North Sumatra region.

Sugiat said that there are several areas that are really in poor condition, such as in Central Tapanuli, Sibolga, South Tapanuli, and Langkat.

"If you look at the few days of flood management in Sumatra, we see that in some areas the situation is already very worrying," he said.

In fact, continued Sugiat, there are dozens of points in the area in North Sumatra that are still flooded today. Similar conditions, according to him, also occurred in a number of areas of West Sumatra (West Sumatra) and Aceh.

"Marisnya, rumah-rumah warga yang terendam itu belum juga mendapat penanganan dari pemda. Apakah evakuasi korban, misalnya warga yang sudah tua atau terkait dengan kebutuhan basah mereka seperti kebutuhan pangan, pakanan, dan lain sebagainya," katanya.

Therefore, the Deputy Chairman of Commission XIII of the DPR in charge of human rights affairs also encouraged the government to consider determining the status of a national disaster in Sumatra.

According to him, the status of a national disaster is a clear 'walk' for the government to concentrate on restoring Sumatra's condition.

"This cannot be done if the disaster status has not been determined. Therefore, I hope that this disaster status will be immediately determined as a national disaster. So that the central government can directly handle this. Otherwise, it will be dangerous," said Sugiat.