"The application of technology to build simple and safe earthquake-resistant houses at 19 locations has been completed," Public Works and Public Housing Minister Basuki Hadimuljono remarked.
Basuki made the statement at a consultation meeting on the follow-up of the West Nusa Tenggara earthquake handling measures at the Nusantara II Building here on Monday.
The minister said his side had sent 400 young engineers to accompany people in Lombok to build some 74 thousand earthquake-resistant houses to replace those destroyed in the recent earthquake in Lombok.
The Ministry of Public Works and Public Housing noted that the rehabilitation and construction of houses had been accelerated in line with the president`s instruction and are expected to be completed in the next six months.
Furthermore, Basuki revealed that the 400 young engineers were deployed at 19 locations to help the community to build earthquake-resistant structures.
Over the past few weeks, the Indonesian resort island of Lombok in West Nusa Tenggara Province has been under the spotlight for a string of strong earthquakes that hit it since July 29.
As a result of the strong earthquakes, including the 7.0-magnitude quake that shook Lombok Island on Aug 5, the National Disaster Mitigation Agency reported that at least 555 people were killed, while 829 others were injured.
Most fatalities were residents of the North Lombok District areas due to their proximity to the strong earthquake`s epicenter. The repeated earthquakes have also damaged 23,098 houses and led to the forced displacement of 134,236 people.
National Disaster Management Agency Head Willem Rampangilei stated that the total value of damage incurred in seven regions in West Nusa Tenggara was estimated to reach some Rp10.1 trillion.
Reporting by Muhammad Razi Rahman
Editing by Otniel Tamindael
Reporter: Antara
Editor: Andi Abdussalam
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