Prabowo Planned to Review Earthquake Disaster Handling in NTT

State Secretary Prasetyo Hadi said President Prabowo Subianto is planned to visit East Nusa Tenggara (NTT) to see first-hand the handling of the earthquake disaster. However, Pras said the government is still monitoring developments in the field.

“It is being planned. It is being planned, but we also need to convey that sometimes in the early stages the conditions on the ground mean we choose to focus on addressing the problems first,” Pras said after a coordination meeting with House of Representatives leaders at the DPR building in Senayan, Jakarta, on Tuesday (18/8/2026).

Pras explained that Prabowo’s visit requires preparations and supporting facilities that differ from an ordinary visit. For that reason, the government needs to ensure conditions on the ground.

“Because the presence of a President certainly requires preparations and facilities that are not like an ordinary visit,” he continued.

Pras assured that the government continues to monitor developments in the earthquake disaster response in NTT. Ministers who have gone to the location are also providing regular reports.

“So what is important is that we monitor every day, the ministers also report, the Head of Basarnas reports to us every day, then BNPB also reports, and we also appreciate that many provincial governments and other regional governments are also sending assistance, including for example from the Central Java Provincial Government. This is evidence of our solidarity in working together to help our brothers and sisters who have been affected by the disaster,” he explained.

Previously, BNPB recorded that 40,000 people had been displaced as a result of the earthquake in NTT. The largest number of displaced people is in East Manggarai Regency.

“The temporary data on displaced people that we have collected so far shows 40,040 people. This does not reflect house damage, so we need to be careful in interpreting it, but this is due to the psychological impact felt by residents,” said Acting Head of the BNPB Data, Information and Disaster Communication Centre, Berton SP Panjaitan, on Tuesday (18/8).

In East Manggarai, 966 people were recorded as taking shelter at BPBD posts, but around 14,000 people are sheltering independently. In total, 15,465 people are recorded as displaced there. In East Manggarai, 25 people were recorded dead, 442 people seriously injured and 513 people lightly injured.