Government Accelerates Construction of Permanent Housing for Sumatra Disaster Victims
The central government is continuing efforts to accelerate the construction of permanent housing (huntap) for communities whose homes were severely damaged or lost due to hydrometeorological disasters in Sumatra. This initiative is being undertaken to ensure that affected residents do not remain in temporary housing (huntara) for too long.
This was emphasised by the Minister of Home Affairs (Mendagri) and Head of the Task Force for Accelerating Post-Disaster Rehabilitation and Reconstruction in Sumatra, Muhammad Tito Karnavian, during a visit to the huntap construction site in Dolok Nauli Village, Adian Koting Subdistrict, North Tapanuli Regency, North Sumatra (Sumut), on Thursday (26/3). The inspection was conducted alongside the Minister of Housing and Settlement Areas (PKP), Maruarar Sirait.
“This is indeed at that stage; the huntara phase is almost complete. So we are now entering the phase of accelerating huntap across the board,” Tito stated in a written remark on Friday (27/3/2026).
Further, Tito explained that huntap construction follows two schemes: in-situ and communal. Under the in-situ scheme, communities can build houses independently on safe locations with support of Rp 60 million from the National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB), to be disbursed in two stages. Alternatively, communities can entrust the construction directly to BNPB.
“In Aceh, I discussed with the BNPB Head yesterday; approximately 15,000 out of 26,000 are in-situ, either built by BNPB or self-built with funds provided by BNPB,” Tito said.
Meanwhile, under the communal scheme, huntap construction occurs in a complex where the land is provided by the regional government (Pemda). The construction process is handled by the Ministry of PKP or through collaborative efforts (gotong royong) with other ministries, agencies, including non-governmental parties.
The huntap construction in Dolok Nauli Village, Adian Koting Subdistrict, North Tapanuli Regency, serves as an example of the communal scheme, supported by the non-governmental entity, the Tzu Chi Buddhist Foundation. Tito noted that the foundation is building a total of 2,603 huntap units distributed across three affected provinces: Aceh, Sumut, and West Sumatra (Sumbar).
The breakdown includes 1,000 units in Aceh, 1,103 units in Sumut, and 500 units in Sumbar. Specifically for North Tapanuli Regency, the foundation will construct 103 huntap units.
On the other hand, the Regent of North Tapanuli, Jonius Taripar Parsaoran Hutabarat, assured that the land used is a regional government asset that has obtained approval from the Regional People’s Representative Council (DPRD) and holds an official certificate. Currently, the regional government is preparing a legal agreement to ensure that ownership of the land can be transferred to the beneficiary communities.
This housing provision effort is also strengthened through cross-agency coordination, including with the Ministry of Public Works, PT PLN, the North Sumatra Provincial Government (Pemprov Sumut), the Central Statistics Agency (BPS), and BNPB.