Ministry of Social Affairs Distributes Rp2.56 Trillion in Aid for Sumatra Floods
The Ministry of Social Affairs has distributed a total of Rp2,564,805,321,880 in assistance to flood victims across three provinces on the island of Sumatra, namely Aceh, North Sumatra, and West Sumatra.
Minister of Social Affairs Saifullah Yusuf, known as Gus Ipul, said the aid disbursed encompasses regular social assistance, emergency social assistance, and adaptive social assistance.
“This is the assistance that has already been distributed. First, regular assistance has been channelled to more than 1.7 million beneficiary families, with a total budget of Rp1.8 trillion. This covers three provinces: Aceh, North Sumatra, and West Sumatra. Then there is emergency social assistance for the emergency period, followed by adaptive social assistance,” Gus Ipul said during a meeting at the Ministry of Home Affairs office on Monday (23/2).
The 1.7 million beneficiary families received aid through the Family Hope Programme (PKH) and the staple food assistance programme (Non-Cash Food Assistance). The total budget disbursed to date has reached Rp1,832,738,125,000.
To handle disaster response and post-disaster recovery, the Ministry of Social Affairs also allocated emergency social assistance worth Rp99,194,346,880. The emergency aid was used to replenish logistics buffer stocks, operate public kitchens across various regions, and provide staple foods and other essential supplies to sustain disaster victims during the emergency period.
Meanwhile, adaptive social assistance to help victims and their families recover from the devastation caused by the disaster amounted to more than Rp632.7 billion.
“The adaptive social assistance currently being disbursed totals more than Rp637 billion,” Gus Ipul said.
In addition, the aid provided also includes household contents compensation worth Rp3 million per household. This compensation can be used by disaster victims to purchase furniture or equipment to support their lives in temporary shelters or permanent housing.
A total of 47,688 households that have been assessed and validated will also receive socio-economic stimulus assistance. The amount of assistance for each family is Rp5 million. Through this stimulus aid, it is hoped that affected residents can restart their family economies.
Furthermore, Gus Ipul explained that the assistance is still being processed and distributed in stages. The Ministry of Social Affairs will currently channel aid to 37 districts and municipalities that have been validated by the Ministry of Home Affairs.
“As of today’s progress, we can report that 37 of 53 districts and municipalities have been validated by the Ministry of Home Affairs and are ready for disbursement. All of these have been verified and validated,” Gus Ipul said.