Students Demand Acceleration of Aceh Disaster Response at Provincial Parliament

Banda Aceh – Several students from the Aceh Youth Movement for Land Defence (Gampata) staged a peaceful demonstration at the Aceh Provincial Parliament demanding the acceleration of disaster response efforts by the Aceh provincial government, which they characterised as inadequate given the large number of affected residents still lacking proper assistance.

“It has now been more than four months since the disaster, yet the community continues to suffer greatly from its impacts,” said field coordinator Syahputra Ariga in Banda Aceh on Monday.

Ariga stated that today’s action at the provincial parliament was a continuation of earlier protests at the office of the Governor of Aceh concerning demands for accelerated disaster response and transparency in budget management.

The students appealed to the provincial parliament to summon the Aceh government to publicly disclose disaster management documentation, from planning to implementation stages.

They further demanded the public disclosure of volunteer recruitment records and payment information, as well as complete documentation of 650,000 tonnes of logistics expenditure. The protesters also raised concerns regarding a 16.87 per cent cut to civil servant allowances scheduled for 2026.

“We also request that the government inform the public of its plan to use 1.6 trillion rupiah in central government transfer funds,” Ariga stated.

According to the activists, many basic needs and facilities remain unmet, and numerous infrastructure projects including roads and bridges remain unrepaired, leaving some communities isolated.

“We will continue to advocate for this until the Aceh government takes concrete action,” Ariga said.

During the demonstration, protesters also questioned the decision to reduce health insurance fund allocation from the previous 253 billion rupiah to 100 billion rupiah, and the reduction of low-cost housing projects from an original target of 2,000 units to just 1,000 units.

“We hope the Aceh government can address all these issues and improve its performance, and truly act as the vanguard of public interest,” Ariga said.

At the meeting with protesters, Vice Chairman of the Aceh Provincial Parliament Ali Basrah stated that the students’ aspirations would be received and subsequently discussed according to parliamentary procedures.

“We will bring these matters to our leadership meeting where we will discuss the appropriate steps and mechanisms,” he said.

Basrah emphasised that all parties desire Aceh to remain stable, secure and peaceful, and that no new problems should emerge in the aftermath of the major disaster that has caused public suffering.

“We want post-disaster recovery and reconstruction to proceed quickly so that our community can experience proper government services,” Basrah said.