Prabowo allocates Rp220 billion for permanent recovery of Batu Busuk in Padang
President Prabowo Subianto has again demonstrated his concern through efforts to recover West Sumatra following the galodo disaster. Prabowo will prepare Rp220 billion to rebuild the Batu Busuk area in Pauh District, Padang City, for permanent handling of the upper Kuranji River Basin.
This assurance was conveyed by Deputy Chairman of Commission VI of the Indonesian House of Representatives from the Gerindra Party faction, Andre Rosiade, while inspecting the affected area together with the Head of the Sumatra V River Basin Agency in Padang, Reski Wahyudi, the Head of the West Sumatra National Road Implementation Agency, Elsa Putra Friandi, and the Head of the West Sumatra Cipta Karya Agency, Maria Doeini Isa, on Friday (21/8/2026).
Andre stressed that the reconstruction of Batu Busuk is part of the government’s commitment under President Prabowo to accelerate rehabilitation and reconstruction in West Sumatra after the major disaster of November 2025.
“For Batu Busuk, Rp220 billion. The tender process is currently underway. In October there will be a winning bidder, and work will begin in November,” Andre said in his statement.
According to Andre, the work at Batu Busuk will be part of permanent handling in the upper Kuranji River Basin. The government is not only building sediment control structures but also carrying out comprehensive river management to reduce the risk of flooding and further galodo events.
Andre confirmed that construction at Batu Busuk is targeted to begin in November 2026. The work will run in parallel with the project at Gunung Nago, which is also located within the Kuranji River Basin.
“So it is not only Gunung Nago that will be completed in November 2026. In Kuranji, at its upper reaches, Batu Busuk will also be completed. President Prabowo’s government is not asleep,” Andre added.
Andre assessed that the acceleration of post-disaster handling this time is far faster than the experience of handling previous major disasters. He noted that the 2012 disaster only received permanent handling in 2017, around five years after the disaster.
Meanwhile, the November 2025 disaster is said to have a scale around five times larger than the 2012 disaster. However, President Prabowo’s government has prepared permanent handling in 2026, only around 11 months after the disaster.
“The November 2025 disaster is five times larger than 2012. But its permanent handling is in October 2026. Within 11 months, permanent handling can already be carried out,” Andre said.
Andre said the budget of Rp220 billion for Batu Busuk and Rp175 billion for Gunung Nago is part of the central government’s substantial support for West Sumatra’s recovery. Overall, President Prabowo’s government has prepared around Rp19 trillion in rehabilitation and reconstruction funds for West Sumatra, to be disbursed in stages.
“We deliberately came today to explain that this is President Prabowo’s commitment,” he said.
In a dialogue with residents, several people expressed concern because heavy rain lasting only a few hours still makes them anxious. They asked that the points considered most vulnerable be prioritised.
Andre explained that the construction at Batu Busuk is not only aimed at repairing the impact of the disaster that has already occurred but also at preventing similar disasters in the future. “This budget is not only for building check dams, not only for building the river. There is normalisation, dredging, and strengthening of the left and right banks,” he said.
Andre added that infrastructure development in the upper reaches must be accompanied by environmental restoration. For this reason, Andre has coordinated with the Padang City Government to replant trees in the upper Kuranji River Basin.
Andre also said he has coordinated with the Head of the State-Owned Enterprises Agency and CEO of Danantara, Muliaman Hadad, to prepare State-Owned Enterprises social and environmental responsibility funds that can be used to support reforestation in the upper reaches. “I have prepared a budget to plant trees upstream. The areas left bare due to illegal logging will be replanted. So the work is comprehensive and thorough,” said the Chairman of the Central Executive Board of the Minang Family Association.