Survivor Continues Providing Banking Services from the Remains of Home After Disaster
Palembayan, West Sumatra (ANTARA) - A survivor of the flash flood disaster that struck Nagari Salareh Aia, Palembayan subdistrict, Agam regency, West Sumatra, Joris continues to provide banking services by utilising the remaining part of his house.
Joris, a BRILink agent met on Thursday, stated that the shop house located across from his home was completely destroyed, swept away by the flood without trace.
Banking service activities were thus forced to be moved to his house, which now only has the back room left.
“Many subscribers, transactions are busy here, withdrawals and transfers. So, two days after the disaster, I reported to BRI, and after three weeks, operations resumed,” said Joris, who has been an agent for three years.
In very limited conditions, he turned the bedroom window into a transaction counter. A simple table was placed in front of the window from the inside to hold the electronic data capture (EDC) machine and the money authenticity checker. Meanwhile, internet vouchers are arranged on a small shelf in the room.
Although he received banking equipment assistance from the bank as compensation for the losses, Joris admitted he does not yet have enough capital to rebuild the shop house.
He mentioned that ideally, an agent should have Rp100 million in the account and Rp100 million in cash. However, all his cash was lost, swept away by the flood.
To resume operations, he had to borrow Rp60 million from a colleague, using his personal car as collateral.
This decision was made considering that before the disaster, the transactions he handled could reach 100 times a day with varying amounts and types.
However, the number of transactions dropped by 50 percent after the disaster, as many customers also became victims.
“Many transactions are lost because the deceased victims were also my customers. I remember them because of daily transactions. Sometimes their children send money from abroad, they withdraw here, people still remember me,” he said.
Even though serving transactions in limited conditions, several residents were observed still visiting Joris’s house to carry out various transactions, from transfers, cash withdrawals, bill payments, to data pulse purchases.
The flash flood, landslide, flood, and tornado disaster hit Agam at the end of November 2025, resulting in 165 deaths.
The highest number of victims came from Palembayan subdistrict with 136 fatalities.