Jakarta (ANTARA News) - The reconstruction of houses damaged in the earthquake in West Nusa Tenggara (NTB) was not carried out by contractors, but by the community on their own, a cabinet minister said.

Minister of Public Works and Public Housing (PUPR) Basuki Hadimuljono stated that the community would be assisted by assistants in rebuilding their homes with earthquake-resistant house technology.

"Construction of houses is carried out in mutual cooperation, or known as Rekompak (Community-based Settlement Rehabilitation and Reconstruction)," the minister remarked in a written statement received in Jakarta on Tuesday.

Hadimuljono noted that the community was not just serving as an audience, but doing things on a mutual cooperation basis, so that it could finish the house repair faster compared to the contractor.

He made the statement at the Consultative Meeting on the Follow-up Handling of the NTB Earthquake at the Indonesian Parliament Building, Jakarta, on Monday.

Hadimuljono explained that according to the Presidential Instruction Number 5 Year 2018, rehabilitation and reconstruction of houses should be completed within six months.

In the anticipation of the rainy season, the Ministry of PUPR and the National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB) will prepare shelters in the form of temporary tents near the houses, while residents complete their house repairs.

Provisional data in the number of houses that have been verified are 31,991 units of houses severely damaged, where as many as 20,546 units on the island of Lombok have been determined through the local District Head`s Decree (SK) and 2,477 units on Sumbawa Island are still in the process of data collection for which the local District Head will issue the decree.

Reporting by Mentari Dwi Gayati
Editing by Andi Abdussalam, Suharto

Reporter: Antara
Editor: Fardah Assegaf
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