Parliament and Government Agree to Restore 29 Villages Lost to Sumatra Floods

Indonesia’s House of Representatives (DPR) Commission II and the government have agreed to restore 29 villages that were destroyed by floods and landslides in Sumatra in late November 2025.

Commission II Chairman Rifqinizamy Karsayuda said his party had coordinated with the Ministry of Home Affairs and the Ministry of Agrarian Affairs and Spatial Planning/National Land Agency (ATR/BPN) to discuss the matter. Both parties agreed, among other things, to rebuild village infrastructure at the affected locations.

“As long as the land remains at a moderate risk level for resettlement by those villages, the villages will be re-established in the same locations,” Rifqi said when contacted on Tuesday (23 February).

Rifqi said his party is currently compiling an inventory of data and maps of the dozens of lost villages. The inventory results will subsequently be cross-referenced with conditions on the ground.

According to him, the government will then need only to build infrastructure so the locations can once again be inhabited.

“There is certainly a need for infrastructure improvements through the Post-Disaster Response Task Force led by Prof Dasco in the DPR. Steps for physical remediation and governance recovery needs have been undertaken,” he said.

Rifqi added that the government and DPR would also grant land ownership rights to residents, whether for housing or agricultural land. He said this step was important to provide legal certainty.

“This includes promptly granting rights to the communities in those villages regarding their land ownership, whether previously used for homes, rice paddies, or other purposes,” he said.

Tito Karnavian, the government’s head of the Post-Disaster Recovery Task Force for Sumatra, stated that 29 villages and settlements were lost or obliterated by the floods and landslides in Sumatra in late November 2025.

Tito said the highest number of destroyed villages was in Aceh, reaching 21, spread across four regencies: Aceh Tamiang, Nagan Raya, Central Aceh, and Gayo Lues.

The remaining eight villages were in North Sumatra, spread across South Tapanuli and Central Tapanuli.

“So there are 29 villages that were lost, swept away by landslides or submerged by floods,” Tito said during a meeting with the DPR Recovery Task Force at the parliamentary complex on Wednesday (18 February).