PALU, KOMPAS – Locals in disaster-affected areas in Central Sulawesi are hoping that reconstruction and rehabilitation will start soon. Relocating residential areas and rebuilding infrastructure, including roads, bridges, schools, hospitals and government offices, will be necessary to reorganize life in the affected regions.
Hopes and support to rebuild Palu, Donggala, Sigi and other disaster-affected regions in Central Sulawesi were expressed, among others, by Vice President Jusuf Kalla, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterre and World Bank CEO Kristalina Georgieva on Friday, Oct. 12. On the day, they were visiting a site in Balaroa sub-district where soil liquefaction had occurred, the severely damaged Anutapura Hospital and a shelter at Vatulemo Square in front of the mayor’s office in Palu.
“The best memorial to remember all the victims is to rebuild better than before. As citizens of the world, we are here to tell you that we are with you,” Georgieva said.
Kalla said that reconstruction and rehabilitation in Central Sulawesi would start immediately and be finished within two years. For now, temporary housing barracks would be built near the relocation area. Emergency schools will also be built.
Kalla was accompanied by the former Aceh-Nias Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Agency (BRR) to observe the destruction and assess the possibility of reconstruction in and around Palu.
Kalla said that he estimated a budget of around US$700 million would be required to build homes, schools, government offices, mosques and hospitals. Currently, the state budget has an emergency fund allocation, but additional third-party funding would still be necessary. The World Bank (WB) has pledged its commitment to hand out a soft loan.
Georgieva said that the WB would also donate US$5 million to help Central Sulawesi’s reconstruction effort.
Guterres said that the Indonesian government’s disaster relief efforts had been efficient and effective and had drawn international praise and support.
Minimal facilities
Fourteen days after the earthquakes and a tsunami hit Central Sulawesi on Sept. 28, victims are still spending their days in temporary shelters with minimal bathing, washing and toilet (MCK) facilities.
Locals in Petobo, Palu, said on Friday that no sanitation facilities, especially toilets, had been established. People usually just dig up holes or go behind the bushes to relieve themselves.
Anutapura Hospital deputy director of finances and general affairs, Fathi Zubaidi, said that 70 percent of the hospital was damaged. Of its 550 beds, only 50 are now available. A number of medical equipment, including radiology tools, dental units and lab equipment, are damaged.
In Sumenep, East Java, a joint verification team comprising officials from the East Java Disaster Management Agency (BPBD) and the East Java Public Works Agency has been deployed to make a registry of homes on Sapudi Island that were damaged in the earthquake earlier this week.
East Java Governor Soekarwo said that the administration would disburse Rp 23.7 billion (US$1.56 million) for earthquake mitigation. (INA/AIN/BRO/SYA)