Regional Reports Become Compass for Sumatran Recovery, PRR Task Force Aligns Ministerial Steps
The recovery condition of flood-affected areas in Aceh, North Sumatra, and West Sumatra was presented directly by local governments to the central government during a daily coordination meeting of the Rehabilitation and Reconstruction Acceleration Task Force (Satgas PRR) on Thursday, 12 March 2026.
The hybrid meeting, held from the Command Centre of the Ministry of Home Affairs or the National Post of the Satgas PRR, brought together representatives from ministries and agencies with provincial secretaries and officials from affected districts and cities.
In this forum, local governments presented factual recovery conditions in the field, whilst ministries and agencies reported on the progress of ongoing rehabilitation and reconstruction programmes. This exchange of information became crucial in ensuring that various recovery programmes implemented by the central government could be adjusted to meet actual needs at the regional level.
The Deputy Secretary of Central Aceh, Mursyid, reported that nine sub-districts in the regency were still facing limited access to clean water. Temporary water supply was being provided through pipe assistance and the use of water sources that still needed to be boiled before use.
“Electricity in five villages is also not yet fully stable, so some communities are still relying on generators as a temporary power source,” he said.
The North Aceh District Government reported that several educational facilities were still damaged. Of 17 affected primary schools, one location was still conducting teaching and learning activities in tents.
Additionally, two regency road sections in the area remained impassable due to post-flood damage. “Fish ponds are not functioning because they are buried and new river mouths have appeared. Most river normalisation work has also not yet been carried out,” said the North Aceh representative.
The Pidie Jaya District Government also reported that approximately 1,500 hectares of rice fields in several sub-districts had not returned to normal. The clean water supply system in the Meureudu area was even reported to have completely collapsed, with the community still relying on alternative water sources.
Similar reports were also submitted by several areas in North Sumatra. The Deputy Secretary of Central Tapanuli Regency, Binsar TH Sitanggang, reported that eight village offices were damaged, with temporary government services being provided at other locations.
Several educational facilities were still in recovery stages. Some schools had returned to normal operations whilst others continued to hold classes in tents, such as SMKN 1 Badiri. “Meanwhile, SMPN 2 Satu Atap Tukka has returned to the school building because it has been repaired. Thank you to the TNI,” he said.
Two connecting bridges in Central Tapanuli that remained impassable were also reported, currently under reconstruction. According to Binsar, small and medium-sized enterprises had actually begun to recover, though several villages were still hampered by electricity and internet issues. “Sibio-bio Village, Aek Bontar Village, and Aek Kalangan II Village have not recovered 100 per cent because they are isolated areas,” he said.
Meanwhile in West Sumatra, the Agam District Government reported that eight bridges were still suffering severe damage due to river expansion during the disaster. Several educational facilities also still required further attention, including one primary school that was still conducting teaching and learning activities in tents.
Time to Align Steps
The presentations from local governments directly became a reference for ministries and agencies to adjust recovery efforts according to their respective authority.
In response to these basic infrastructure challenges, the Ministry of Public Works committed to promptly validating data on coordinates of temporary housing and permanent housing locations to accelerate access to clean water and bridge repairs.
The Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources stated its readiness to support new electricity installation in isolated areas, with the condition that priority location coordination be finalised immediately with BNPB based on the latest data from the regions.
Separately, Bappenas emphasised that the Master Plan (Renduk) document was being finalised to ensure medium-term recovery, including river normalisation and provincial road improvements, had a strong legal framework and budget. The Ministry of Religion also ensured that remaining assistance for houses of worship in North Sumatra and West Sumatra would be completed soon following verification of the latest damage data presented by the regional secretaries in the meeting.
This synergy ensured that every report of obstacles from the field was directly responded to with technical steps by the relevant central ministries, thus avoiding policy overlap.
The Deputy Commander of the Satgas PRR, Brigadier General TNI Dody M. Taufik, emphasised in the meeting that meeting basic needs in temporary housing needed to be accelerated, particularly the provision of clean water and electricity, so that the target of moving evacuees before Eid al-Fitr 2026 could be achieved.
“Local governments, please update refugee data more thoroughly down to village level,” said Dody. “This is important to support the acceleration of rehabilitation and reconstruction processes in accordance with the direction of Satgas PRR Commander Tito Karnavian and the provisions in the Presidential Regulation.”
On various occasions, Commander Tito Karnavian had emphasised that the alignment of ministerial and agency programmes must refer to the actual conditions reported by local governments. This data was mapped through a number of recovery indicators, ranging from government services and road access to electricity, clean water, and community economic activity.
“The normality indicators of an area are determined by several variables such as government, public services, land access, economy, and social factors. From there we can see which sectors need to be prioritised for recovery,” Tito said recently.
For information, the meeting with the regional secretaries was chaired by the Deputy Secretary of the Satgas PRR, Air Marshal TNI Mohammad Nurdin, accompanied by the Head of the National Post of the Satgas PRR, Inspector General Police Wahyu Bintono, and the Deputy Commander of the Satgas PRR, Brigadier General TNI Dody M. Taufik.