VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Lebak, Banten - The Ministry of Social Affairs has handed over compensation to the families of 11 people who died in the flash floods and landslides that recently swamped certain areas in Lebak District, Banten Province.

The compensation was handed over to the families of the victims in Darul Mustofa Islamic Boarding School and at a military training center of Siliwangi Regional Military Command in Banten Province Tuesday.

"The amount of compensation for each victim reaches Rp15 million," said Grace Batubara, adviser of the Ministry of Social Affairs' Dharma Wanita (the women's organization of the bureaucracy).

Besides submitting the compensation, Batubara, who is the wife of Social Minister Juliari P Batubara also handed over school uniforms to students affected by the disaster.

"The total humanitarian assistance we handed over today exceeded Rp700 million while the total value of the Ministry of Social Affairs' financial assistance for those affected by floods and landslides in Lebak reached more than Rp2 billion," she said.

Nurhaedi, a 40-year-old man who lost his wife and three children after his house was buried in a landslide on January 1, 2020 said he thanked the government for the compensation.

On the day the landslide struck his village, the rain was not heavy. Therefore, he never thought a cliff behind his house would slide down, he said.

He would use the money to conduct prayers for his wife and his three children until the 100th day of their deaths, Nurhaedi said.

The catastrophe in early January that struck the areas of Lebak District, Banten Province, did not merely kill a dozen local residents but it also destroyed several infrastructure facilities.

Bearing the maximum impact of the recent flash floods and landslide, the residents of Sukarame Village in Sarija Sub-district built an emergency bridge with bamboo poles to cross over to their neighboring villages.

The flash floods and landslide swamped the areas of Sukarame Village in early January, damaging several houses and the infrastructure.

Several houses had also been destroyed by the floodwaters. Sukarame Village is one of the areas in Banten Province that bore the maximum impact. (ANTARA)