TNI Chief of General Staff provides borehole wells aid to disaster-hit residents in Central Tapanuli

Jakarta – The Chief of General Staff (Kasum) of the Indonesian National Armed Forces, General (Letjen) Richard Tampubolon, provided borehole wells to residents affected by floods and landslides in Central Tapanuli Regency (Tapteng), North Sumatra, on Tuesday, 19 May. In a statement received in Jakarta on Wednesday, the borehole wells were to help the community access clean water more easily. ‘Clean water is one of the most important basic human needs,’ Richard said. According to Richard, the idea for borehole construction came from the provincial and district Disaster Management Agency (BPBD), which said that the majority of residents need clean water, especially during the post-disaster recovery period. ‘After coordinated and intensive communication, we decided to build boreholes and water installations, five units in Central Tapanuli and five units in South Tapanuli,’ he said. Richard said the boreholes he provided would stream clean water to the homes of disaster victims, namely the temporary housing (huntara) at Rusunawa Pandan. ‘Here there are 118 households who previously faced water shortages. With the communication and coordination undertaken, the clean water access programme has been realised,’ he said. Not only did he provide borehole facilities, Richard also provided aid in the form of staple food packages to 105 households occupying the huntara. With this aid, he hoped the disaster victims would be better helped so that the post-disaster recovery process could proceed optimally.