Minister ensures repairs to transport facilities damaged by NTT earthquake

Transport Minister Dudy Purwagandhi has confirmed the acceleration of repairs to transport facilities damaged by the earthquake in East Nusa Tenggara (NTT), to be carried out in stages in order to restore connectivity, public transport services and logistics distribution in the region.

“We are carrying out repairs. In NTT there are terminals, airports and ports affected by the earthquake, and we have started repairing them,” the Minister said after attending a Maulid Nabi commemoration with Gojek driver partners and the symbolic release of 70 Gojek Legend Driver Partners in Jakarta on Friday evening (28/8).

The Minister said a number of transport facilities suffered damage as a result of the disaster, but the damage was not too severe and the repair process is continuing in stages to restore public service functions.

Dudy explained that repairs are focused on parts of facilities that have suffered cracks or collapsed debris so that transport infrastructure can be used again promptly and support the activities of disaster-affected communities with optimal services.

He said the government is working to accelerate the handling of affected terminals, airports and ports through coordination with relevant parties so that the recovery of transport facilities proceeds quickly and in line with community needs.

“Indeed, not many were damaged, only the terminal. We will repair it soon. The cracks and the collapsed debris will be repaired immediately,” he said.

According to Dudy, repairing transport facilities in disaster areas is an important step to ensure connectivity is maintained while supporting the mobility of residents and the distribution of aid to affected areas for post-disaster recovery.

Even so, the damage to transport facilities has not affected the flow of logistics because the distribution of goods and community needs in NTT has continued to run smoothly to date.

Distribution obstacles did occur on several land routes due to landslides that blocked access to a number of earthquake-affected areas in NTT, on Flores Island.

As a solution, the Ministry of Transport is encouraging the use of sea routes using ships to reach areas that are difficult to access by land vehicles due to disruptions to the road network.

Dudy added that the characteristics of Flores Island as an archipelagic region allow logistics distribution to be diverted through sea transport so that community needs can continue to be met sustainably.