North Sumatra TKD Realisation: Three Cities Progress While Two Regencies Lag Behind

Following the full disbursement of Additional Regional Transfer (TKD) funds in May for three provinces affected by major flooding in late November 2025, the challenge now lies in ensuring local governments swiftly realise the budget. Throughout July 2026, the Ministry of Home Affairs and the Task Force for the Acceleration of Rehabilitation and Reconstruction (Satgas PRR) visited various districts and cities to monitor and provide coaching clinics on the realisation of the TKD funds. Monitoring results as of 4 August 2026 show that realisation in North Sumatra Province has reached Rp 433.45 billion, or 6.82 percent of the total allocation of Rp 6.35 trillion. Infrastructure development has begun to move, with realisation reaching approximately Rp 89.23 billion, or 2.54 percent of the sector’s total allocation of Rp 3.51 trillion. Pematang Siantar City recorded the highest realisation rate at 40.72 percent, followed by Medan City at 21.61 percent and Gunungsitoli City at 15.03 percent. Pematang Siantar, which was not heavily impacted, focused its spending on education and health sectors, including the rehabilitation of schools and health service infrastructure. Medan directed its funds towards restoring drainage infrastructure and flood-prone areas, while Gunungsitoli prioritised road infrastructure recovery and school rehabilitation. In contrast, severely affected regencies like North Tapanuli and Central Tapanuli are lagging. North Tapanuli has only realised 0.55 percent of its Rp 74.35 billion allocation, with zero realisation in infrastructure and education. Central Tapanuli’s situation is more alarming, with 0.00 percent realisation of its Rp 123.73 billion allocation, despite facing recurrent flooding that displaced hundreds of residents in early August 2026. The Task Force has called for active intervention from the North Sumatra Governor to accelerate spending. Additionally, the Task Force has urged local governments to prepare for the El Niño phenomenon predicted by the Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) to occur between July and October 2026.