Government Hands Over 120 Permanent Housing Units to Disaster Survivors in Tapsel

The central government has officially handed over 120 permanent housing units (huntap) in the first phase to the community affected by the hydrometeorological disaster in South Tapanuli Regency (Tapsel), North Sumatra. The handover was led by the Indonesian Interior Minister (Mendagri), who also serves as Chairman of the Task Force for Accelerating Rehabilitation and Reconstruction (Satgas PRR) Post-Sumatra Disaster, Tito Karnavian. He assessed that the construction of huntap in the region is one of the fastest in disaster handling in Sumatra.

“This is one of the fastest collaborative efforts, the fastest I can say. The quickest,” said Interior Minister Tito in South Tapanuli Regency, North Sumatra, on Friday (27/3/2026), quoted from a press statement.

He explained that the acceleration of huntap construction is determined through three main stages. The initial stage depends on the local government’s ability to compile and submit detailed data on victims. This data collection is based on names and addresses (by name by address) for each survivor, along with the level of damage to their housing.

The data is then verified in the field by the Central Statistics Agency (BPS), before proceeding to the construction stage involving collaboration among various parties. The central government, namely the National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB) and the Ministry of Housing and Settlement Areas (PKP), also partners with non-governmental parties, including the Tzu Chi Buddhist Foundation.

On that occasion, the Interior Minister also appreciated the steps taken by the Regent of Tapsel, Gus Irawan, who was deemed prompt in submitting complete and rapid damage data. This ranges from light, moderate, to severe categories.