Minister of Public Works Reveals Progress in Sumatra Post-Disaster Reconstruction

The Minister of Public Works (PU) Dody Hanggodo revealed progress in the post-disaster reconstruction of infrastructure following floods and landslides in Sumatra and Aceh. He said bridges were the most lagging due to the need to adapt to river widening.

“So far, it’s going well. The area that is somewhat behind, in my view, is Aceh. Aceh is very large and very massive. The bridges have not been tackled effectively because most of its rivers have widened,” Dody Hanggodo said at a media briefing at the Ministry of Public Works, Kebayoran Baru, South Jakarta, on Friday (22/5/2026).

Hanggodo noted that river widening in Sumatra and Aceh after the disaster could be five to ten times larger. He said the design for permanent bridge construction in those areas must change entirely.

“The widening is also somewhat uncertain. It could be 10 times larger, or 5 times larger. So, yes, the design must change completely,” he added.

Hanggodo said there were still many logs and rocks upstream. He explained the rationale for permanent bridge construction during the response phase of the disaster.

“There are indeed some works that should not be done during the emergency response period. But I feel I must do them first because of timing. For example, permanent bridges, especially on national roads connecting provinces,” he said.

“That road traffic is quite high. Meanwhile the temporary roads we built have limitations. And we will never be able to restrict the bridges we build to, say, 10 tonnes or 20 tonnes.”

Hanggodo said irrigation construction remains behind, and a check is needed to see whether there is still mud in paddy fields.

“What is most behind is irrigation. Why is it behind? Because we must check whether the paddy fields still exist, whether they are still there. If they are already buried in mud, we must also check whether the mud can be cleaned easily or whether the mud must push the paddy area elsewhere.”

Hanggodo said if there is mud in the paddy fields, a new irrigation area must be created. He said irrigation construction is more behind than roads and bridges, and mud clearing.

“So the focus today in Sumatra, Aceh, especially Aceh, is the problem of rice paddies and irrigation,” he added.

Hanggodo said the Ministry of Public Works is also working with the Ministry of Agriculture on irrigation and rice fields. He said other recovery efforts include mud clearing in housing areas.

“The second thing I see is mud clearing in housing areas, especially within the houses themselves; outside, by the main roads, is already safe, only the back areas are not yet optimal,” he said.

Hanggodo asked his staff to implement a mud-clearing program for housing areas using a labour-intensive approach as part of tackling extreme poverty. He said residents who clear mud in their own areas would also be paid according to cubic measurements.

“And then I asked the colleagues in Cipta Karya to revive the handling of extreme poverty, one of which is mud clearing. This mud-clearing will use a labour-intensive approach where homeowners themselves clear mud in their homes, but we will pay them,” Hanggodo said.

“We will pay up to a certain cubic measure, with the rupiah rate set together with BPKP.”

Hanggodo added that he would travel to Sumatra the following day to personally inspect this mud-clearing program.

“All is ready now. Tomorrow I will check. On Saturday I plan to review this program in Sumatra and Aceh,” he concluded.