Mobile Service Drive: Dukcapil Issues 358 Documents After NTT Earthquake

The government is moving quickly to restore the civil registration documents of residents affected by the 7.7 magnitude earthquake in East Nusa Tenggara (NTT).

The Directorate General of Population and Civil Registration (Dukcapil) at the Ministry of Home Affairs has deployed a Disaster Response Team to West Manggarai Regency to provide direct civil administration services to residents.

The mobile service drive was led by Dukcapil Secretary Hani Syopiar Rustam on Monday (24/8).

This step follows the directive of Home Affairs Minister Tito Karnavian and Director General of Dukcapil Teguh Setyabudi to ensure that residents who lost or suffered damage to their civil registration documents due to the earthquake can promptly obtain replacements.

Documents of particular concern include electronic identity cards (KTP-el), family cards (KK), and birth certificates.

“I will immediately instruct the Director General of Dukcapil to coordinate with district and provincial Dukcapil offices,” Tito said while inspecting an evacuation post in Nagekeo Regency, NTT, last week.

Following up on that instruction, Teguh deployed six service unit teams to seven affected districts on Flores Island. Besides West Manggarai, technical teams from Dukcapil were sent to Manggarai, East Manggarai, Ngada, Nagekeo, Ende, and Sikka Regencies.

“Dukcapil is present directly on site to ensure services continue to operate and that residents can promptly obtain the civil registration documents they need quickly, easily, and free of charge,” said Teguh.

Upon arriving in Labuan Bajo, Hani and her team immediately inspected the West Manggarai Regency Dukcapil Office.

The office building suffered damage in the form of cracks in the walls due to the earthquake tremors. Nevertheless, civil administration services to the public are confirmed to be continuing.

Hani and her team were received by Assistant III for General Administration at the West Manggarai Regional Secretariat, Pius Baut, who represented the regent. Also present was Head of West Manggarai Dukcapil Office Valentinus Andi.

During the visit, Dukcapil handed over grant assistance and loaned a number of technical devices to support the issuance of civil registration documents for residents in affected areas.

The assistance consisted of two outer packages equivalent to 4,000 blank KTP-el cards, one Starlink internet device, one SIM card, one set of ribbons, film, cleaning kit, 80-gram A4 paper, and one inkjet printer.

Dukcapil also loaned one portable KTP-el recording device, or mobile enrollment unit.

Hani said the equipment support is necessary to ensure that the process of replacing residents’ lost or damaged documents is not hindered, especially amid the post-disaster emergency conditions.

According to her, Dukcapil’s presence in West Manggarai is a mandate to ensure that basic public services do not collapse.

“We are handing over the Starlink device and portable recording equipment so that local office staff can move flexibly to evacuation posts. All replacement of civil registration documents for disaster-affected residents is guaranteed to be fast and free,” said Hani.

Pius Baut expressed appreciation for Dukcapil’s support, particularly the communication equipment and additional KTP-el blanks, which are considered important for accelerating services in affected areas.

“On behalf of the regional government and the people of West Manggarai, we express our gratitude for the attention of Dukcapil at the Ministry of Home Affairs,” said Pius Baut.

The supporting facilities such as Starlink and additional electronic KTP blanks are crucial for his office, given that reliable signal and civil registration logistics supplies are greatly needed to accelerate services in disaster areas.

Head of West Manggarai Dukcapil Office Valentinus Andi also confirmed that his staff are ready to visit affected locations together with the Dukcapil team.

“Although our office building has cracks, the spirit of our field personnel has not diminished. With the portable recording equipment and the availability of blanks from the central government, we are ready to reach residents who have lost documents in affected villages,” said Valentinus.

First Day Sees 358 Documents Issued

In addition to visiting the Dukcapil office, the delegation also visited the Earthquake Emergency Response Post at the West Manggarai Regional Disaster Management Agency (BPBD) Office.

At the location, the team coordinated with West Manggarai Deputy Regent Yulianus Weng and West Manggarai DPRD Speaker Benediktus Nurdin.

Yulianus expressed appreciation for the swift action of the Home Affairs Ministry in responding to the needs of earthquake-affected residents. He also conveyed his respects to the Director General of Dukcapil.

The team then monitored the situation from the West Manggarai BPBD Command Center. As of Monday afternoon, seismic activity was still ongoing with a number of aftershocks measuring below magnitude 4.

During the inspection, a 2.6 magnitude tremor was recorded near the coast of Manggarai Regency, Ruteng.

Amid these conditions, civil administration services continued to operate. Based on the recapitulation up to 18:39 WITA, the mobile service drive and routine services on the first day in West Manggarai succeeded in issuing 358 civil registration documents.

The breakdown includes KTP-el recording for 36 people and printing of 94 KTP-el cards. Officers also printed 174 family cards and five child identity cards.

In addition, 13 applicants activated their Digital Population Identity. The service also produced 12 moving-in certificates, 18 birth certificates, four death certificates, and two marriage certificates.

Hani stressed that the service is not merely about document recovery, but part of efforts to ensure that citizens’ civil rights remain fulfilled even in an emergency situation.

“Dukcapil is present to ensure that residents who lost or found their civil registration documents damaged due to the earthquake can promptly obtain replacements,” she said.

“The equipment and technical facilities we handed over today are expected to strengthen the reach of the West Manggarai Dukcapil Office in serving residents up to the most remote affected areas,” said Hani.

The disaster response service will continue over the coming days. The Dukcapil team is scheduled to target a number of evacuation points and other earthquake-affected locations in West Manggarai Regency.