Government Aims to Complete Sumatra Recovery by 2028

Home Affairs Minister Muhammad Tito Karnavian has announced that the permanent recovery process for the Sumatra disaster, which struck at the end of November 2025, has begun. As chair of the Sumatra Disaster Recovery Task Force, he aims to complete permanent recovery in the three affected provinces — North Sumatra, West Sumatra, and Aceh — within three years.

Tito explained that disaster management is conducted in three phases: emergency response, transition, and permanent recovery. “We are now moving into the permanent recovery phase,” he said after a coordination meeting of the Sumatra Disaster Recovery Task Force at the DPR/MPR complex in Jakarta on Monday, 25 May 2026.

Tito stated that the government has prepared a master plan to accelerate rehabilitation and reconstruction in Sumatra. “From the three phases — emergency response, transition, then moving towards permanent recovery — we refer to it as rehab and recon (rehabilitation and reconstruction), and the key is the master plan,” said the former National Police Chief.

He explained that the master plan was compiled from data gathered by district/city, provincial, and ministry/agency governments, then aligned by the National Development Planning Agency (Bappenas). “The master plan was compiled from all districts, provinces, and ministries/agencies, then consolidated. Based on this consolidation, Bappenas and the task force will adjust it, with completion within three years — 2026, 2027, 2028,” Tito said.

Tito noted that 11,512 activities will be carried out during the permanent recovery process, including road and bridge construction, schools, and permanent housing for affected communities. “Priority in 2026 will be infrastructure, rivers, roads, schools, and other essentials,” he added.

Ecological disasters in the form of flash floods and landslides struck northern Sumatra in November 2025, affecting 52 districts and cities across North Sumatra, West Sumatra, and Aceh.

The National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB) recorded 1,207 fatalities from the disaster, with 137 people still missing six months later. The ecological disasters also caused damage to homes, healthcare facilities, schools, places of worship, bridges, and roads across the three provinces.