Government Accelerates Rice Field and Mud Recovery Post-Sumatra Disaster

The Task Force for Accelerating Rehabilitation and Reconstruction (Satgas PRR) post-Sumatra disaster continues to expedite the handling of mud cleanup and rehabilitation of damaged rice fields affected by floods and landslides in Aceh, North Sumatra, and West Sumatra.

Mud cleanup measures are being carried out to restore community activities while ensuring that public facilities previously impacted can return to normal operation. Meanwhile, rice field rehabilitation is focused on maintaining rice supplies and accelerating the recovery of farmers’ livelihoods in the affected areas.

According to the Satgas report as of 28 March, progress in mud cleanup shows significant achievements in the three provinces. In Aceh, out of a total of 476 targeted locations, 396 locations have been successfully cleaned, while 80 other locations are still in the processing stage.

In North Sumatra, out of 24 targeted locations, 20 locations have been cleaned and the remainder are still in process. Meanwhile, in West Sumatra, mud cleanup has been fully completed, with all 29 impacted locations successfully cleaned at 100 percent.

These achievements align with the progress in rice field land rehabilitation. Based on Satgas PRR data as of 28 March, out of a total of 42,702 hectares of rice fields targeted in the three provinces, 991 hectares have been rehabilitated, while 5,333 hectares are still in the handling process.

In detail, in Aceh, out of 31,464 hectares of rice fields targeted, only 42 hectares have been successfully rehabilitated. In North Sumatra, out of 7,336 hectares, 170 hectares have been rehabilitated. Whereas in West Sumatra, out of 3,902 hectares, 779 hectares have been successfully restored.

Previously, in a press conference at the Presidential Staff Office, the Head of Satgas PRR, Muhammad Tito Karnavian, revealed that mud cleanup is the government’s primary focus in accelerating recovery in the affected areas.

“This mud is the main problem in lowland areas. We have recorded the teams recapping all the points. We have the points, the number is approximately 445 in the three provinces. What has been completed in Sumatra total is approximately 84 percent, leaving 16 percent,” said Tito, in a written statement, Saturday (28/3/2026).

In addition, Tito emphasised that his side is working to normalise rivers in the three affected provinces that are filled with mud sedimentation. This normalisation is considered important to prevent follow-up floods while supporting irrigation systems for people’s rice fields and ponds.