"We support the enormous work of PMI, including in Lombok [...], and we are very ready to support the efforts carried out there," ICRC`s head of the Regional Delegation to Indonesia and Timor Leste Alexandre Faite said after meeting Vice President Jusuf Kalla in Jakarta on Monday.
Faite, along with ICRC head of the Cluster Team for Indonesia and Timor Leste, Jan Gelfand, were meeting Vice President Kalla to express their appreciation for the efforts by the Indonesian government in handling victims and infrastructure after a series of earthquakes struck Lombok since last month.
Indonesia, which has been elected as UN Security Council non-permanent member for the 2019-2020 period, has a great opportunity for international cooperation to address such problem.
"Next year is a very important year for Indonesia as it will enter the UN Security Council. We see that there are possible shared interests that can be supported at the international level," Faite noted.
The government is currently working on an action plan for reconstruction and rehabilitation after the earthquakes.
The Action Plan is a document that will explain the duties of various ministries and institutions and related budget allocations, according to the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) head Willem Rampangilei.
According to him, not all ministries and institutions are included in Presidential Instruction No. 5 of 2018 concerning the Acceleration of Post-Earthquake Rehabilitation and Reconstruction in NTB. But in reality, various existing ministries and institutions have distributed aid in the field.
All of the ministries and institutions, he continued, have contributed to the process of accelerating recovery from the impact of the earthquake that hit West Nusa Tenggara.
The reconstruction and rehabilitation completion target is 1 to 2 years, Rampangilei added.
Public Works and Housing Ministry has been intensifying assistance to residents in West Nusa Tenggara in order to optimize recovery after the earthquake in the region.
Minister Basuki Hadimuljono pointed out that the rehabilitation and reconstruction of houses will be carried out by the community on their own, along with assistance from the ministry, and is targeted to be completed within six months, so the socio-economic life of the community will be quickly recovered.
In order to realize this target, Hadimuljono has asked the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of West Nusa Tenggara Province to open a building materials depot at the sub-district or village level to provide convenience and access to people who need construction materials, including cement, iron, and sand.
"The existence of a building material depot is expected to guarantee the availability of stock in sufficient quantities and affordable prices," he noted.
Reporting by M. Arief Iskandar
Editing by Yashinta Difa Pramudyani, Otniel Tamindael
Reporter: Antara
Editor: Andi Abdussalam
Copyright © ANTARA 2018
