Government Accelerates Damage Assessment of Homes Affected by NTT Earthquake

The government is accelerating the assessment of damage to residents’ homes affected by the earthquake in East Nusa Tenggara (NTT) as the basis for distributing home repair assistance. The government has prepared assistance of Rp15 million for lightly damaged houses, Rp30 million for moderately damaged ones, and Rp70 million for severely damaged ones.

Head of the Regional Post of the Aceh Rehabilitation and Reconstruction Acceleration Task Force (PRR), Safrizal ZA, said that speeding up data collection is one of the government’s main concerns in handling the impact of the NTT earthquake. According to him, the speed of aid distribution depends heavily on the completeness of damage data compiled by the regional government.

“Mr Tito stated that the speed of aid depends greatly on data collection. If it has been collected and has reached the Regent, after that it is also signed by the District Police Chief and the District Prosecutor,” explained Safrizal.

Safrizal conveyed this after accompanying Home Affairs Minister Muhammad Tito Karnavian for five days in areas affected by the NTT earthquake. Tito’s presence with several ministries and agencies was a follow-up to President Prabowo Subianto’s instruction to directly review the condition of the community while accelerating disaster management.

While in NTT, the government held cross-sectoral coordination meetings involving various stakeholders, engaged in dialogue with survivors, and provided direction to regional governments regarding measures to handle the earthquake’s impact. Tito also asked regional governments to accelerate the assessment of damage to residents’ homes. Data collection is carried out in stages starting from the village level and then compiled by the district government.

“The assessment of house damage is tiered from the village. Later the village will submit it to the Regent. The Regent will then compile whose houses are lightly, moderately, or severely damaged,” said Safrizal.

In this process, regional governments are asked to deploy village heads and sub-district officials so that data collection can be carried out quickly and accurately. The compiled data then becomes the basis for applying for government assistance. In addition to accelerating data collection, the government also ensures that the verification process involves law enforcement elements in the region. Damage data that has reached the regent must be signed by the local District Police Chief (Kapolres) and District Prosecutor (Kajari). According to Safrizal, this mechanism is needed so that the aid distribution process can run in an orderly manner while ensuring that assistance is given to affected residents.

Safrizal said that the central government has been taking action in affected areas since the first day of the earthquake. The government’s presence is not only carried out through inter-agency coordination, but also by directly listening to the aspirations of survivors and providing direction to regional governments.

“So since the first day of the earthquake, the state has been present and acting at the disaster site. The central government has not remained silent. This proves that residents are not alone in facing the disaster,” said Safrizal.

During the visit, Tito also led the 81st Independence Day Ceremony of the Republic of Indonesia at Natas Lehong Field, East Manggarai Regency, NTT, on Monday (17/8/2026). The ceremony, which was originally planned for Tito to attend at the State Palace in Jakarta, was moved to NTT after the government decided to directly review the earthquake-affected areas.

After the ceremony, the Home Affairs Minister’s entourage visited Satar Kampas Village, North Lamba Leda District, East Manggarai Regency. During the visit, Tito held dialogue with earthquake survivors and asked the regional government to accelerate the assessment of the disaster’s impact.

Safrizal, who previously served as Acting Governor of Aceh for the 2024–2025 period, said his experience working in disaster-affected areas made him see the importance of the speed of government response. According to him, survivors need certainty regarding the handling measures and assistance that the government will provide.

The central government’s visit to NTT, he continued, is part of efforts to ensure that disaster management runs in an integrated manner and that affected communities receive support to recover post-disaster conditions.