PRR Task Force Head Urges Local Governments to Accelerate Data Collection and Classification of Permanent Housing

Jakarta (ANTARA) - Minister of Home Affairs Muhammad Tito Karnavian, as Chair of the Task Force for Accelerating Rehabilitation and Reconstruction (PRR) Post-Sumatra Disaster, has urged local governments in disaster-affected areas in Sumatra to accelerate the data collection and classification of permanent housing (huntap). In his statement in Jakarta on Friday, Tito emphasised that the speed and accuracy of data are key to accelerating the construction of huntap for affected communities. Local governments have been given a one-week deadline to complete the accurate data collection and classification of huntap. Huntap will only be built for houses that are severely damaged or lost. “I gave a deadline until next Wednesday. Meanwhile, we are doing this in parallel, with BPS going down, BNPB also going down, and from this Task Force (PRR), there is also a team going down to these three provinces. And I also ask for support from the governors to encourage the regents and mayors to carry out the data collection,” Tito said. There are three classifications of huntap, consisting of huntap insitu (at the original location), huntap exsitu (relocated to a chosen/self-funded location), and huntap exsitu centralised/communal (in the form of a complex). He stated that the results of this data collection will serve as the basis for determining the appropriate huntap construction scheme for affected communities. Tito also urged regional heads to directly oversee the acceleration of the data collection process by forming small teams so that data collection can be carried out quickly. However, the data will still be verified by the Central Statistics Agency (BPS) before construction execution. “Well, from the 39,000, it will then be verified by BPS. Whether it’s true or not, severely damaged/lost, whether it’s eligible, and so on. Only then will BNPB and the Minister of Housing carry out the execution,” he said. In addition, the government has designated the Ministry of Housing and Settlement Areas (PKP) and the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) as the main spearheads for huntap construction. Besides that, there is also support for huntap construction from various parties, including the Buddhist Tzu Chi Foundation, the National Police, and the Coordinating Ministry for Political, Legal, and Security Affairs. “What we will build first are the areas that are ready with their data. So, please, fellow regional heads, don’t let the community complain later because of delays in carrying out the data collection,” he concluded.