Agam Receives 11 Labour-Intensive Disaster Relief Programmes from Manpower Ministry

Lubuk Basung (ANTARA) - Agam Regency, West Sumatra, has been granted 11 sites for disaster-related labour-intensive programmes from the Ministry of Manpower (Kemenaker) for 2026, as part of a community empowerment effort to create temporary jobs for affected residents.

The Head of the Agam Industry, Trade, and Manpower Office, Budi Perwira Negara, stated in Lubuk Basung on Saturday that the eleven programme sites are distributed across areas hit by hydrometeorological disasters in November 2025, specifically within the Tanjung Raya and Palembayan districts.

“In Tanjung Raya District, the sites include Nagari Bayua and Nagari Koto Kaciak. For Palembayan District, it includes Nagari Koto Silungkang,” he said, accompanied by Erianto, Head of Productivity, Labour Training, and Placement at the Agam Industry, Trade, and Manpower Office.

He noted that the labour-intensive programmes, which were proposed by the local villages (nagari), involve projects such as concrete repairs, the construction of irrigation channels, and ditch dams, with a budget of IDR 100 million allocated for each site. The funds have already been disbursed and transferred to the respective group accounts.

The IDR 100 million for each site is allocated with 60 per cent for building materials and 40 per cent for labour, covering daily wages of IDR 120,000 for skilled workers and IDR 95,000 for general labourers.

“The work will last for 12 days, with working hours from 08:00 to 13:00 WIB. Currently, none of the programmes have commenced as they are still in the preparation phase,” he added.

Previously, six districts had proposed labour-intensive programmes to the Ministry of Manpower, namely Malalak, Tanjung Raya, Matur, Ampek Koto, Palembayan, and Tanjung Raya. However, only three villages were approved, as others failed to meet the necessary requirements.

These proposals were submitted by each village within the districts after the Agam Industry, Trade, and Manpower Office conducted proactive outreach to ensure villages submitted their programmes through the official portal, https://bizhub.kemenaker.go.id.

This outreach was based on a letter from the Regent of Agam regarding the 2026 Flood Disaster Mitigation Employment Expansion Assistance, addressed to the sub-district heads. The letter follows instructions from the Directorate of Employment Expansion, Ministry of Manpower, regarding information on employment expansion assistance for flood disaster mitigation in Sumatra for 2026.

“There are two programmes from the Ministry of Manpower, namely labour-intensive works and independent beginner labour programmes for affected areas. Registration is open from 13 March to 9 April 2026 via https://bizhub.kemenaker.go.id,” he concluded.