Head of the Public Works Office and Urban Planning Saiful stated in Palembang City on Friday that the houses to be renovated had been identified by involving various local non-governmental organizations.
"From the start of this year, the city government is focusing on improving the slum area in Kemang Agung Village. We will thereafter gradually focus on other villages. As funding is disbursed, we will immediately conduct home repairs," Saiful revealed.
He said the houses to be repaired, in general, were uninhabitable due to the fragile construction of the buildings and an unhygienic environment.
To this end, the city government has allocated budget worth Rp15 million to Rp20 million to finance home ceiling repairs for each house.
"For instance, if the roof was about to collapse, it will be replaced with a steel-frame roof that is more durable," he explained.
The city government has estimated that Rp30 billion will be spent from the regional budget to conduct repair work in the slum areas in 30 villages in Seberang Ulu District, Palembang City, in 2017.
The improvement of slum areas in the city is linked to the city governments target of zero slum areas by 2019.
Besides relying on the regional budget funds, the local government has also gathered assistance from the private sector and community social institutions.
The local government has included 59 villages having slum areas in the Settlement Improvement Program, which was launched in mid-2015 across Indonesia.
In line with the program, the local government will build hallways and streets as well as several public bathing, washing, and toilet facilities and use communal waste water treatment plants and repair the uninhabitable houses to make them more livable.
Meanwhile, in 2016, the Public Works Office for Human Settlements of Palembang City had allocated Rp10 billion for improving the slum areas along Musi River.
The Palembang city government has launched a program of zero slum areas and complete sanitation and water services to reduce the slum area in downtown Palembang and to avoid the resurfacing of new ones.
To realize this goal, the government has been implementing a variety of programs, such as rearranging settlement areas, conducting home repairs, establishing public facilities, and implementing a low-cost housing program for citizens of the low-income group as part of the efforts to prevent the emergence of new slum areas.(*)
Editor: Heru Purwanto
Copyright © ANTARA 2017
