Recovery Lags in Central Sulawesi

Name: Recovery Lags in Central Sulawesi
Uploaded: 2019-09-26T03:08:25Z
Duration: 20 min 32 s
Description: One year after Central Sulawesi was hit by an earthquake, tsunami and liquefaction, obstacles remain in the government-led recovery effort.

One year after Central Sulawesi was hit by an earthquake, tsunami and liquefaction, obstacles remain in the government-led recovery effort.

· 4 minutes read

PALU, KOMPAS — One year after Central Sulawesi was hit by an earthquake, tsunami and liquefaction, obstacles remain in the government-led recovery effort. Around 1,000 survivors still live in emergency shelters.

The 7.4-magnitude earthquake followed by a tsunami and liquefaction hit Palu city and Sigi, Donggala and Parigi Moutong regencies in Central Sulawesi on 28 September 2018. Referring to the latest data approved by Central Sulawesi Governor Longki Djanggola on 8 January 2019 and updated in mid-March 2019, 3,124 people died, 705 went missing and 1,016 were buried in a mass grave following the disaster. Furthermore, 110,214 houses were damaged. In total, the damage was valued at Rp 24.96 trillion (US$1.76 billion).

The government constructed 669 temporary homes for disaster survivors whose homes were either destroyed or severely damaged in Palu, Sigi and Donggala. One temporary home has 12 rooms. The temporary housing will be offered while waiting for the completion of permanent housing.

As of Wednesday (25/9/2019), all temporary homes had been completed, except for the people affected by liquefaction in Balaroa subdistrict, West Palu district. Data from shelter managers as of July 2019 showed that 337 families or 1,298 individuals still lived in emergency shelters. It is certain that the number will change when survivors move to rented or relatives’ homes.

“We can do nothing. Since the beginning, it has never been clear whether we will get temporary housing or not,” said Trisnawati, who lives in an emergency shelter in Balaroa.

Balaroa Shelter Management secretary Ivantri Datupalinge said temporary housing was not constructed for survivors in Balaroa after a protest in early 2019. At the time, survivors from the Balaroa Liquefaction Victims Forum demanded the budget for the temporary housing construction be paid in cash. The government, however, cannot fulfill the demand.

Palu disaster mitigation agency’s (BPBD) emergency and logistics head, Bambang Sabarsyah, said temporary housing could not be constructed in Balaroa due to land issues. The survivors’ proposed location for the temporary housing, namely where the emergency shelter stands today, is not suitable for temporary housing as it is on a slope.

At other locations, many temporary homes are not in use. In Kalawara village, Gumbasa district, Sigi regency, only half of 72 rooms in the local temporary housing are in use. In Petobo subdistrict, South Palu district, and in Mamboro Induk subdistrict, North Palu district, many temporary housings are empty. This is because many survivors prefer to stay at their rented homes or rebuild their old homes, even in red zones or disaster-prone zones.

School activity

Learning activities have commenced at emergency schools. Examples include at Pengawu state elementary school and SD Inpres Bayaoge state elementary school in Tatanga district, Palu, where activities take place in emergency buildings. “Repairs have been carried out. For instance, we’ve replaced the torn tarpaulin with sago palm leaves. We’ve replaced some of the weathered bamboo walls with iron sheeting,” SD Inpres Bayaoge principal Salbia said.

Palu Education and Culture Agency head Ansyar Sutiadi said the agency strived to repair around 200 damaged schools. The agency still awaits funding from the central or local governments as well as other institutions and social foundations.

Irrigation repair in Gumbasa, Sigi, is also lagging. The 30-kilometer irrigation culvert for 7,000 hectares of rice field and horticulture plantation was severely damaged by the earthquake. The first stage of repairs on 7 km of the culvert had been targeted for completion in April-July. However, the target was missed and the government set a new target of late 2019.

Verification of survivors’ database has also been problematic. Despite having input the required documents, the names of certain survivors have yet to show up on the list of beneficiaries of home repairs and life insurance assistance.

Central Sulawesi regional secretary Hidayat Lamakarate said there had been delays in constructing the irrigation culverts. The delays were due to state budgeting that had to adhere to procurement regulations, including auctions.

Regarding the database, Hidayat ensured that all survivors would be accommodated. The data would be verified to ensure that it stayed up-to-date. “However, reports that some survivors are not included in the database are false,” said Hidayat, who also chairs the Central Sulawesi Post Disaster Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Agency.

Central Sulawesi Legislative Council’s Disaster Management Monitoring Special Committee chair Yahdi Basma said post disaster programs had not been properly planned. He said there should have been priorities in the disaster management, including creating a survivors’ database, which is linked to survivors’ rights and compensation, as well as recovering their economic sources. (VDL)

Editor:

naranasrullah

disaster EARTHQUAKE kompascetak tsunami and liquefaction