Prabowo Explains Why He Did Not Visit NTT Earthquake Victims from the Outset

President Prabowo Subianto has explained his reasons for not immediately visiting East Nusa Tenggara (NTT) when the earthquake struck the region. Prabowo said the decision was taken so that relevant agencies could focus more on handling the affected communities.

This was conveyed by Prabowo during a meeting on the NTT earthquake response at the Disaster Management Post in Nagekeo on Wednesday (26/8/2026).

“Indeed, I deliberately did not want to come at the beginning because I wanted to give all agencies the opportunity to serve the people directly,” he said.

“Sometimes when too many central officials come, concentration is split because regional officials have to receive them and so on,” Prabowo added.

Prabowo said such conditions could divert the government’s main focus, namely providing services and assistance to communities affected by the disaster.

“That sometimes has a tendency to end up diverting the primary focus,” he said.

However, according to him, the central government continued to monitor the development of disaster handling from the outset. He said the most important thing was not merely the presence of officials at the location, but ensuring that aid and services could be deployed immediately to the community.

“But we continue to monitor, and the most important thing from the centre is to mobilise services and assistance. That is the most important thing,” Prabowo stressed.

He assessed that a direct visit to a disaster site would not be effective if it was not followed by the government’s ability to resolve problems and send the assistance needed by the community.

“If we come and then only look at the disaster but cannot resolve it, cannot send aid, then that is ultimately less effective,” he said.

Prabowo said that after receiving various reports from relevant ranks and monitoring developments in handling on the ground, the central government assessed that response efforts had been carried out optimally.

On that occasion, Prabowo also expressed appreciation to all agencies involved in disaster management, from BNPB, relevant ministries, the TNI, the National Police, Basarnas to regional governments.

Prabowo also appreciated the reports delivered by the Governor of NTT and the regents regarding the condition of disaster handling in their respective areas. According to him, regional heads have an important role because they are the leaders closest to the community.

“These regents are the leaders closest to the people,” Prabowo said.