Coordinating Minister Praises Significant Progress in Post-Disaster Recovery
Coordinating Minister for Human Development and Culture Sugiono has praised the Disaster Rehabilitation and Reconstruction Acceleration Task Force for its efforts to restore areas affected by disasters in Sumatra. After around 11 months, rehabilitation and reconstruction in Aceh, North Sumatra and West Sumatra have made significant progress.
Implementation of recovery activities funded in the 2026 fiscal year has reached approximately 96–98%. This figure reflects progress on rehabilitation and reconstruction activities allocated funding in 2026.
Overall recovery efforts are continuing, including the phased completion of various projects in line with the established rehabilitation and reconstruction plan.
During a visit in his capacity as chair of the Task Force’s Steering Team, Sugiono received an update on recovery from Home Affairs Minister Muhammad Tito Karnavian, who chairs the task force, including details of achievements and remaining obstacles.
Sugiono said the government’s efforts demonstrated hard work in meeting its responsibility to provide services to people in affected areas. These efforts include issuing regulations, providing budget support, and restoring basic facilities and services in Aceh, North Sumatra and West Sumatra.
“I think this is extraordinary hard work that deserves recognition. Despite the various circumstances, the government led by President [Prabowo Subianto] has still been able to fulfil its responsibility to provide services to the public and address problems in disaster-hit areas,” Sugiono said in a written statement on Thursday (29 October 2026).
Sugiono made the remarks during a visit on Monday (26 October) to the National Post of the Task Force for Post-Disaster Recovery in Sumatra, at the Ministry of Home Affairs’ headquarters in Jakarta.
He said recovery efforts needed to be strengthened through coordination between central and regional governments and all relevant parties. Sugiono added that completing the remaining work more quickly was essential to ensuring affected residents could resume normal activities.
Alongside efforts to accelerate recovery, Sugiono stressed the importance of strengthening preparedness for future disasters.
He said climate change could affect rainfall patterns in Indonesia. Areas north of the equator are expected to see increased rainfall, while areas to the south are likely to be drier than normal over the coming decades.
“Therefore, mitigation efforts must also be factored into our planning, so that if a disaster occurs we are better prepared and can respond and carry out rehabilitation as quickly as possible,” he said.
Sugiono stressed that rehabilitation and reconstruction should not only restore affected areas, but also take future disaster risks into account. Coordination between central and regional governments and other relevant parties must therefore continue to be strengthened, so recovery can proceed alongside mitigation and efforts to improve public preparedness.
Meanwhile, Home Affairs Minister Tito Karnavian reported that subsequent disasters remained one of the challenges in rehabilitation and reconstruction.
Heavy rainfall has triggered further flooding in several areas, including Padang and Solok in West Sumatra, Central Tapanuli in North Sumatra, and several parts of Aceh.
Tito said sediment build-up in affected rivers had increased the risk of overflow during heavy rain, causing some infrastructure that had already been repaired to be damaged again. River management therefore needed to be expedited to reduce the risk of further flooding.
He said accelerating work on 137 rivers affected by sedimentation in Aceh, North Sumatra and West Sumatra should be part of efforts to reduce the risk of renewed floods.
Tito called on the Ministry of Public Works to support the acceleration of river clearing and management, so rehabilitation and reconstruction in affected areas could proceed more effectively.