Housing Minister seeks private sector funding to accelerate housing in Sumatra
Jakarta (ANTARA) — Housing and Settlement Minister Maruarar Sirait is pursuing private sector fundraising to accelerate the construction of permanent housing for disaster-affected communities in Sumatra.
The move, he said, is aimed at expediting the fulfilment of housing needs whilst ensuring affected families can occupy their homes before Eid al-Fitr 2026 (1447 H).
"For the people, it doesn't matter who it comes from — what matters is that fellow Indonesians are helping. So we can make breakthroughs. Imagine, before Eid we hope hundreds of homes will already be habitable," he said during a coordination meeting of the Post-Disaster Recovery Task Force for Sumatra in Jakarta on Wednesday.
Ara, as Maruarar is commonly known, added that private sector support has so far resulted in the construction of 2,603 housing units. He expressed hope that fundraising efforts could be further expanded to speed up the building process.
The Housing Minister further disclosed that his ministry has recorded a need for 26,969 permanent housing units, with a total budget requirement of Rp8.5 trillion.
He also called for the establishment of deadlines for finalising beneficiary data and construction locations so that decisions can be taken promptly. He stressed that data clarity is essential to prevent delays and ensure more certain progress on the ground.
His ministry has also established a division of roles with the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB). BNPB will construct individually scattered houses, whilst the Housing Ministry will focus on building housing in large contiguous clusters of approximately 100 to 200 units per location.
He also emphasised the importance of uniform specifications and assistance values to avoid jealousy among communities.
"Our suggestion is that the price and specifications should be the same, so that we protect people's feelings towards one another," he said.
Separately, the government is also reviewing the use of domestically produced roof tiles for the housing construction under a programme dubbed "gentengisasi" (roof-tile localisation). Beyond comfort considerations, this policy, he said, could stimulate national industry and local SMEs rather than relying on imports.
The move, he said, is aimed at expediting the fulfilment of housing needs whilst ensuring affected families can occupy their homes before Eid al-Fitr 2026 (1447 H).
"For the people, it doesn't matter who it comes from — what matters is that fellow Indonesians are helping. So we can make breakthroughs. Imagine, before Eid we hope hundreds of homes will already be habitable," he said during a coordination meeting of the Post-Disaster Recovery Task Force for Sumatra in Jakarta on Wednesday.
Ara, as Maruarar is commonly known, added that private sector support has so far resulted in the construction of 2,603 housing units. He expressed hope that fundraising efforts could be further expanded to speed up the building process.
The Housing Minister further disclosed that his ministry has recorded a need for 26,969 permanent housing units, with a total budget requirement of Rp8.5 trillion.
He also called for the establishment of deadlines for finalising beneficiary data and construction locations so that decisions can be taken promptly. He stressed that data clarity is essential to prevent delays and ensure more certain progress on the ground.
His ministry has also established a division of roles with the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB). BNPB will construct individually scattered houses, whilst the Housing Ministry will focus on building housing in large contiguous clusters of approximately 100 to 200 units per location.
He also emphasised the importance of uniform specifications and assistance values to avoid jealousy among communities.
"Our suggestion is that the price and specifications should be the same, so that we protect people's feelings towards one another," he said.
Separately, the government is also reviewing the use of domestically produced roof tiles for the housing construction under a programme dubbed "gentengisasi" (roof-tile localisation). Beyond comfort considerations, this policy, he said, could stimulate national industry and local SMEs rather than relying on imports.