Home Affairs Minister checks readiness of huntara in Pidie Jaya Regency

Jakarta (ANTARA) - The Minister of Home Affairs (Mendagri), who also serves as the Head of the Disaster Recovery and Reconstruction Acceleration Task Force (Kasatgas PRR) for the Sumatra region, Muhammad Tito Karnavian, checked the location of temporary housing (huntara) in Pidie Jaya Regency, Aceh, on Friday.

Tito explained that the huntara built in Pidie Jaya are divided into four types: huntara built by BPI Danantara, huntara initiated by the National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB), huntara built by the Ministry of Public Works (PU), and huntara erected through community collaboration by non-governmental organisations (ormas) and volunteers. Among these four types of huntara buildings, Tito noted, there are differences in the facilities inside.

“For example, at BNPB there is no bed, but it has a well-equipped kitchen and its own toilet. Then at Danantara it is almost the same as PU; there are beds, the fans make it cooler and more comfortable, but the kitchen and toilet, and the bathroom are shared, communal,” Tito said in a statement from Jakarta on Friday.

Although there are differences in facilities, the government assures that the refugees will continue to receive decent and comfortable housing.

During the inspection, Tito, along with Social Affairs Minister (Mensos) Saifullah Yusuf and Aceh Deputy Governor (Wagub) Fadhlullah, also spoke with the refugees.

Based on data in his possession, among the three provinces affected by the disaster in the Sumatra region, only West Sumatra Province has zero refugees living in tents.

“This is our target with BNPB; all of them will be in huntara, and regarding meals, BNPB will fund them for the next 10 days. After that we will use the ‘uang lauk pauk’ and ‘jadup’ funds from the Ministry of Social Affairs,” he said.