They have been placed on standby. They are in North LombokMataram, W Nusa Tenggara (ANTARA) - One thousand personnel from the Indonesian Army's engineering unit will be deployed to facilitate the government's endeavors to construct 17 thousand earthquake-resistant houses in West Nusa Tenggara Province, an army officer stated.
"They have been placed on standby. They are in North Lombok," Commander of the 162/Wira Bhakti Resort Military Command Brig. Gen. Ahmad Rizal Ramdhani notified journalists in Mataram, the capital of West Nusa Tenggara Province, on Thursday.
Based on Presidential Instruction Number 7 of 2020 on accelerating the reconstruction of people's houses in West Nusa Tenggara's Earthquake Disaster Zones, the transitional period for the 2018 Lombok earthquake has been extended up to Dec 31, 2020.
"Thanks to this presidential instruction, matters related to the funds required for rebuilding damaged houses can be expedited," he noted, adding that 17 thousand damaged houses had yet to be rebuilt.
To this end, Ramdhani spoke of having instructed his men in disaster zones to be prepared for deployment to assist in the reconstruction process.
According to the West Nusa Tenggara Disaster Mitigation Agency, as of August 25, 2020, the government had distributed funds, totaling Rp5.681 trillion, to mitigate the impacts of the 2018 Lombok earthquake through the implementation of rehabilitation and reconstruction programs.
The deadly earthquake that rocked several parts of Lombok Island in West Nusa Tenggara Province two years ago caused damage to several hundred houses.
Since then, the government has completed the work to renovate and rebuild 202,831 damaged houses, while 10,909 other houses are yet under construction.
Earthquakes regularly strike various parts of Indonesia due to the fact that the country lies on the Circum-Pacific Belt, also known as the Ring of Fire, where several tectonic plates meet and cause frequent volcanic and seismic activities.
Two of the deadliest earthquakes in Indonesia that occurred over the past few years were the ones that hit several areas of West Nusa Tenggara and Central Sulawesi Provinces.
The 7.4-magnitude earthquake that was followed by a tsunami that hit the areas of Palu City and the districts of Donggala, Paringi Moutong, and Sigi in Central Sulawesi, on Sept 28, 2018, claimed 2,102 lives.
The earthquake also injured 4,612 people and rendered 680 others missing. It also damaged 68,451 houses and displaced 78,994 people.
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EDITED BY INE
Translator: Dhimas BP, Rahmad Nasution
Editor: Fardah Assegaf
Copyright © ANTARA 2020
