Disaster Relief Aid to Sumatra Enters Second Wave
The Head of the Regional Post of the Task Force for Accelerated Rehabilitation and Reconstruction (PRR) in Aceh, Safrizal ZA, announced that the government continues to accelerate the distribution of relief assistance to victims of hydrometeorological disasters in Sumatra through a phased assistance scheme based on accurate data.
Safrizal conveyed this whilst accompanying Muhammad Tito Karnavian, who attended the second wave assistance distribution ceremony for victims of Sumatra’s hydrological disasters by the Ministry of Social Affairs of the Republic of Indonesia in Idi Rayeuk, East Aceh Regency, on Monday (16 March 2026).
According to Safrizal, to date the government has distributed aid in two waves. The first wave focused on assistance related to housing damage classification, whilst the second wave targets individual assistance such as living allowances (jadup), economic stimulus assistance, and household furnishings aid for affected victims.
“Post-disaster management is carried out in phases. The first wave focuses on housing damage, whilst the second wave targets individual assistance such as living allowances, economic stimulus, and household furnishings aid,” Safrizal said.
On this occasion, Tito Karnavian emphasised that data is the most important instrument in accelerating post-disaster rehabilitation and reconstruction. He assessed that the quality of data collection is crucial in determining the speed at which the government can distribute financial support to affected communities.
Safrizal stressed that the data collection process in disaster areas is not straightforward, so it is carried out in phases or waves to ensure data accuracy.
“Data collection must be accurate, because from that data all government support can be distributed correctly to communities that are entitled to it,” Safrizal said, citing guidance from the PRR Task Force Chair.
In the event, economic stimulus assistance was also symbolically handed over to affected communities in East Aceh. For this second wave, East Aceh received more than 100 billion rupiah.
Safrizal assessed that such assistance not only helps disaster victim recovery, but also has the potential to revive the regional economy.
“Economic stimulus funds, living allowances, and other assistance will increase the purchasing power of the community. When these funds are spent, the economic circulation in the region will also move,” he said.
At the conclusion of the activity, Safrizal also conveyed a message urging local governments to complete the data collection of affected houses that remain incomplete. He stressed that housing reconstruction for disaster victims cannot be implemented if data is not yet available validly.
Therefore, he urged local governments to promptly form special teams, provide funding support, and deploy teams to the field so that the data collection process can be completed quickly and accurately.
The Minister of Home Affairs (Mendagri) Muhammad Tito Karnavian, who is also Chair of the Task Force for Accelerating Post-Disaster Rehabilitation and Reconstruction in Sumatra, targeted having no evacuees remaining in temporary shelters by the time of the Eid al-Fitr celebration in 1447 Hijriah/2026 CE.
“The target is that by the time of the religious holiday there will be no more evacuees living in tents. There are two options for tent evacuees, either to temporary shelters (huntara) or they will be given waiting-period housing funds,” Muhammad Tito Karnavian said in East Aceh on Monday (16 March).