Task Force Reveals 1,872 Families Still Living in Emergency Shelters Following Sumatran Disaster

JAKARTA — The Disaster Rehabilitation and Reconstruction Acceleration Task Force (Satgas PRR) for Sumatran disasters has revealed that 1,872 families remain in emergency tent shelters.

The task force spokesperson, Amran, expressed hope that the number of evacuees will continue to decrease ahead of Eid al-Fitr 1447 H (2026 M).

“Currently, there are 1,872 families still staying in emergency tent shelters. We hope this trend will continue to decline by the upcoming Eid al-Fitr celebration,” said Amran during a press conference at the Ministry of Home Affairs building in Central Jakarta on Monday (9 March 2026).

Amran noted that the figure had already decreased from the initial total of 2,178,269 evacuees.

“In North Sumatra province, from 201 families two days ago, today there are only 177 families remaining, a reduction of 24 families,” Amran explained.

He further elaborated that relocating evacuees from emergency tent shelters to transitional housing (huntara) requires various considerations and remains an ongoing process. Relocations must follow designated locations determined by the government according to registered family names. Consequently, the mobilisation process requires time.

“They cannot be relocated to undesignated locations. All families have predetermined huntara locations assigned to them. So this process is naturally taking time,” Amran stated.