President Joko Widodo, Monday (Aug 13) in North Lombok, West Nusa Tenggara (NTB) Province, said that government assistance given to the affected people of Lombok earthquake for rehabilitation and reconstruction of residential buildings, will be submitted in the form of savings. The handover of the first-stage assistance for the rehabilitation and reconstruction of residential buildings is carried out on Tuesday in North Lombok district and is intended to repair 1,000 residences. Nevertheless according to the President, the rehabilitation and reconstruction process will be carried out in a self-managed manner, which will be supervised by the regional government with direction from the Ministry of Public Works and Public Housing. This is, according to the President, so that the buildings can be resistant to the earthquake.
"About 1000 will be handed over in the form of savings. From the money, I have conveyed that it can be used to rebuild the house but will be supervised by the province, the Governor, then accompanied by the Ministry of Public Works because the houses built are the RISHA (Simple Instant Home Healthy) anti-earthquake houses. You will later be given pictures and directions in the field by the Ministry of Public Works, Said President Joko Widodo.
The National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB) reported that the earthquake that hit Lombok has resulted physical damages which includes 67,875 damaged houses, 606 damaged schools, 6 damaged bridges, 3 damaged hospitals, 10 damaged health centers, 15 damaged mosques, 50 damaged prayer rooms, and 20 damaged office units. The agency estimates the total losses due to the earthquake reached 5.04 trillion rupiah. During his visit to North Lombok Regency, President Joko Widodo also visited field kitchens, trauma healing centers, evacuation posts for disaster victims and field hospitals. The President also took time to hold a dialogue with the residents to personally listen to the complaints of the people affected by the earthquake. (VOI/Ndy/AHM)