Those Who Long for Wooden Houses

Traditional houses in Lombok, West Nusa Tenggara, have proven resistant to earthquakes compared to houses with brick walls. However, this is not easy to realize.

KOMPAS/DANU KUSWORO

An interior look at a traditional gazebo shows an open platform used as a meeting hall in Senaru traditional village of Bayan district, North Lombok regency, West Nusa Tenggara. The village maintains its ancestral wisdom by preserving its traditional houses made of wood and bamboo. The traditional structures in the area were unaffected by the series of earthquakes that shook Lombok last year.

Traditional houses in Lombok, West Nusa Tenggara, have proven resistant to earthquakes compared to houses with brick walls. The trauma of earthquakes means that some of the local community desire returning to living in indigenous houses. However, this is not easy to realize.

“Actually, we want to return to living in our former houses. It feels more comfortable,” Maryam, 50, told the Kompas daily’s Wallacea Expedition Team as she watched workers build the foundations for government-sponsored concrete houses. Maryam is one of the quake victims in Bayan village of Bayan district, North Lombok regency, West Nusa Tenggara (NTB). Yet, as a number of other people also share the same wish, it is not easy to rebuild traditional houses in the village.

Maryam is still traumatized by the successive tremors that occurred in July and August 2018. Her house of less than 36 square meters, which was built with walls made of batako (commercial brick), collapsed after an earthquake. Fortunately, the disaster claimed no lives in her family.

Data from the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) shows that 20 people were killed and 10,000 buildings were damaged in the 6.4-magnitude earthquake that shook Lombok on 29 July 2018. Later, the 7.0-magnitude quake on 5 Aug. 2018 claimed 564 lives and destroyed 216,489 houses.

KOMPAS/LUKI AULIA

The Mbojo tribe maintains its traditional uma lengge architecture in Maria customary village of Wawo district, Bima regency, on Sumbawa Island, West Nusa Tenggara. The elevated gazebos are about 2-by-3 meters and built on stilts, with an open platform at the bottom and space in the rafters for storing grains like rice, corn and sorghum.

Of the 10 traditional houses in Bayan, all remained intact and standing despite the recurring tremors. Meanwhile, the nearby houses suffered cracks, with some collapsing, especially brick-walled houses.

The traditional houses in Bayan are constructed entirely of wood and bamboo. Their roofs are made from woven cogon grass and their walls from woven bamboo mats. The houses are set on stone blocks that serve as the foundation.

According acting Karang Bajo village head Karyadi in Bayan district, many of the villagers want to rebuild houses using natural materials like the traditional houses. But it is difficult to find these materials for building traditional houses.

“The government cannot yet guarantee the supply of traditional construction materials. On the one hand, there remains the fear of potential damage to the forest to meet the needs of building traditional houses," said Karyadi.

Houses in another customary village in Bayan district, Senaru village, have also proven their resistance to earthquakes. None of the 20 traditional houses in the village were damaged in the tremors. The houses, built with cogon grass roofs, bamboo walls and wooden pillars, are still standing.

As an alternative, some people replaced the grass roofs with cheaper and durable zinc sheets.

“I’ve had enough of it and want to return to living in a traditional house. The house I lived in has been destroyed,” said Sardi, 27, a Senaru villager.

Stigma

Karyadi admitted that the government viewed traditional houses as unfit dwellings. Moreover, the aid for rebuilding the homes of disaster victims required brick walls and cement floors. Most of the community also believed that houses with brick walls and cement floors were more modern.

Nirahat, 60, a resident of Segenter village in Bayan district, confirmed that some people in his village felt ashamed of living in traditional houses. The original houses in Segenter were also built with wood, bamboo walls and grass roofs. Living in such houses, he said, was considered outdated and a sign of poverty. But none of Segenter’s original houses were damaged by last year’s tremors.

Nonetheless, it is not easy for the people to rebuild traditional houses like the ones they inherited from their ancestors. One of the reasons for this is because of the shortage of wooden materials and cogon grass needed to build Lombok’s traditional houses. Grass roofs require replacing every 5-7 years. As an alternative, some people replaced the grass roofs with cheaper and durable zinc sheets.

KOMPAS/DANU KUSWORO

A row of traditional houses stands in Senggerek village on Lombok Island, West Nusa Tenggara. Some residents long to return to living in these houses made of woven bamboo walls, thatched grass roofs and wooden pillars, which were left undamaged by last year’s earthquakes.

A berugak traditional house in Segenter required at least 50 bundles of cogon grass for the roof at Rp 75,000 per bundle, to be replaced every 5-7 years. Zinc sheets cost less and could last 20 years, said Nirahat.

NTB Regional Disaster Mitigation Agency head Ahsanul Khalik said that development planning in the province had yet to address disaster risk reduction. As for the local residents’ desire to build houses with traditional materials or architecture, he said this could not be accommodated yet, either.

“So far, we haven’t had any test results validated by the government, in this case the Public Works and Housing Ministry, showing that our traditional houses can be categorized under earthquake-resistant houses,” said Ahsanul.

Anneke Prasyanti, the Tourism Minister’s architecture expert staffer, attributed the traditional houses’ relative resistance to earthquakes to the spaces in their joinery. These spaces made the structure more elastic during an earthquake, and thus, the structures were not rigid and were relatively resistant to tremors, said Anneke.

(ZAK/NIT/LUK)