Syofiardi Bachyul Jb. , The Jakarta
Post , Padang | Fri, 01/08/2010 10:00 AM | The
Archipelago
Rehabilitation and reconstruction in
West Sumatra following September's earthquake will be completed by 2011,
a team announced Thursday.
West Sumatra Rehabilitation and Reconstruction
Technical Supporting Team coordinator Sugimin Pranoto said the central
government had allotted Rp 6.47 trillion for the recovery projects, which
would be disbursed in three phases.
"The fund covers everything, including
rebuilding homes that were heavily and moderately damaged by the quake,"
he said when presenting his team's programs at the West Sumatra governor's
office in Padang.
The rehabilitation of the people's
houses slightly damaged by the Sept. 30, 2009, quake was the responsibility
of the regency/municipal administrations in the province, he added.
He said apart from the state and regional
budgets, the rehabilitation and reconstruction fund had come from foreign
aid and NGOs.
Sugimin said of the total fund, Rp 314
billion had been spent for early recovery programs since November 2009,
Rp 3.5 trillion for the first phase reconstruction in 2010, and the rest
was for the next phase of reconstruction in 2011.
The figure included Rp 3.16 trillion
needed to rebuild 7,636 units of the heavily and moderately damaged houses
until this mid year. Others would be built in the second semester of this
year and next year.
"The reconstruction will rebuild affected
areas even better compared to before their devastation, especially for
the government institutions' buildings, infrastructure, people's housing
and other facilities."
National Disaster Handling Agency (BNPB)
head Syamsul Maarif said his agency had established the technical supporting
team to help handle rehabilitation and reconstruction programs in West
Sumatra.
The team's main task were to assist
the governor to program, speed up and monitor the implementation of the
program, and facilitate coordination among the stakeholders.
The team was established, he said, because
the West Sumatra earthquake was considered as a provincial disaster that
an ad hoc agency whose establishment needed a presidential decree was not
needed.
"Once the BNPB received the fund, it
directly conveys it to the governor to further implement the rehabilitation
and reconstruction programs," Syamsul said.
Separately, West Sumatra Governor Marlis
Rahman called on regents and mayors in the province whose regions were
affected by the earthquake to allocate a minimum of Rp 1 million
per unit to help mend lightly damaged houses.
"I was informed there are regions that
have yet to allocate the fund in their 2010 budget hoping that either the
BNPB or the provincial administration will cover the deficit.
"Neither the BNPB nor the provincial
administration will cover the rehabilitation of lightly damaged houses."
A powerful 7.9-magnitude earthquake
devastated much of West Sumatra on Sept. 30, 2009, killing at least 1,117
people.
The earthquake reportedly has heavily
damaged 114,797 houses, moderately damaged 67,198 houses and lightly damaged
67,838 houses.