Chairman Of Commission V Of The DPR Asks The Government Not To Be Ashamed In Receiving Assistance From Overseas For The Sumatra Disaster

DPR Commission V Meeting. Photo: Nailin/VOI

JAKARTA - Chairman of Commission V DPR Lasarus, highlighted the slow pace of the government in dealing with disaster victims in Aceh, North Sumatra (North Sumatra), and West Sumatra (West Sumatra).

Lasarus asked the central government not to be ashamed to receive outside aid, if it was unable to handle the Sumatran disaster.

This was conveyed by Lasarus during a working meeting with the Ministry of Transportation, the Ministry of Public Works, Basarnas, BMKG, and Korlantas at the parliament complex, Senayan, Jakarta, Monday, December 8.

Lasarus initially alluded to the limitations of the APBD which is a serious obstacle for local governments in tackling the impact of disasters. According to him, the reduction in the budget for special grants (DHK) and public grant funds (DHU) in the previous year until the next year will weaken the local government's fiscal capacity, so the central government needs to provide assistance.

"We, all leaders and members of Commission V, get information from the regions that the limited cost of regional budgets greatly affects their strength in dealing with this disaster," said Lasarus.

"Restrictions on the fiscal capacity of this area, like it or not, there must be an initiative from the central government, so that we can handle this disaster immediately," he continued.

Moreover, the head of the commission in charge of infrastructure said that currently there are still points of disaster-affected areas that have not been reached by the field team. Lasarus hopes that the lack of financing sector will not be a major obstacle in handling the Sumatran disaster.

Although he fully handed over to the central government regarding the determination of the status of the national disaster, Lasarus asked the central government not to be ashamed if they felt difficult in dealing with the disaster. He urged the government to immediately deal with the post-disaster disaster quickly.

"The government has not yet determined this status, whether it will be used as a national disaster or not, we from the DPR fully submit it, because this is a subject of the government, please let the government want to determine what status this is, what is important for us is to handle it quickly," he said.

"Help this community quickly, if we can't afford it, we don't have to be ashamed, we ask for help from any party because the community at the disaster site will definitely need the fast presence of the country around their inability to face the current conditions," concluded the PDIP legislator from the West Kalimantan II electoral district.

Previously, Minister of State Secretary Prasetyo Hadi, who is also the Presidential Spokesperson, stated that the government was still able to overcome the floods and landslides in three provinces of Sumatra, including food stocks that were still sufficient for victims.

Prasetyo's statement was in response to the opportunity for international assistance to enter if disasters in North Sumatra, West Sumatra and Aceh were designated as national disasters.

"For the time being, it hasn't (opened up opportunities) yet. Even though we also represent the Government of the Republic of Indonesia, we express our gratitude for the great attention from friendly countries," Prasetyo said in response to reporters' questions after a press conference at Halim Perdanakusuma Air Base, Jakarta, Wednesday, December 3.