Home Affairs Minister Targets Zero Tent-Dwelling Evacuees in Aceh by Eid
The Home Affairs Minister set his target during a visit to East Aceh on Monday whilst accompanying the Social Affairs Minister in distributing disaster relief to affected communities.
According to Tito, construction of temporary housing units (huntara) is underway across several disaster-affected regions in Aceh Province, including Aceh Tamiang Regency, East Aceh Regency, and North Aceh Regency.
At the Atu Lintang site in North Aceh Regency, the minister stated that construction is being expedited through coordinated effort to complete the facility by 19 March 2026 at 23:00 WIB, with handover to tent-dwelling evacuees scheduled for the following day.
“We have instructed the National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB) and the North Aceh Regent to immediately hand over the temporary housing upon completion. Once the handover occurs, the tents must also be dismantled. We cannot have a situation where temporary housing is built but tents remain standing, as this sends the wrong impression that tent-dwelling evacuees still exist,” Karnavian stated.
The minister also urged local governments to establish joint task forces responsible for visiting disaster victims individually to determine their preferred housing arrangement: temporary housing complexes, temporary housing on personal land, or in-situ temporary housing at their original location.
“The task force will ask disaster victims about their preferred arrangement—whether communal temporary housing, complex housing, or in-situ housing. For in-situ housing, we provide 60 million rupiah in assistance, provided it is built on their own land,” he explained.
According to Karnavian, recipient data must be properly validated and verified to ensure no disaster victims are overlooked. If victims are not initially registered, local government heads may propose their inclusion.
“Regents may propose additional victims who have not been recorded. It is crucial to prevent any beneficiary from receiving assistance twice. Therefore, we need field verification teams to ensure data validity,” Karnavian concluded.