"We will return the funds, worth Rp915 million, because 69 households are not eligible to get the aid," said Mataram Disaster Mitigation Agency secretary Akhmad Muzaki M.
Of the total 1,408 households, 69 were deemed ineligible to receive the funding as they had received financial aid from other sources, he explained.
For instance, they were assisted by the National Alms Agency (Baznas) in repairing their houses, Muzaki said in a press statement received by ANTARA here on Thursday.
They were also assisted by the city's housing and human settlement office, which had rolled out a renovation program for homes categorized as unfit for living (RTLH), he added.
They cannot have double sources of financial aid. Thus, the money, transferred to their bank accounts at the end of 2020, will be re-transferred to the state account," he said.
The Mataram city administration had received more than Rp19.9 billion in disaster relief funds from the government for carrying out repairs of houses damaged in the quake.
"But, Rp915 million of the total amount of received funds will be returned to the state after all houses have completely been repaired in April, 2021," Muzaki informed.
Two deadly earthquakes had hit several parts of Lombok Island on July 29 and August 5, 2018. The catastrophe had caused damage to several houses.
Since then, the government has completed renovating and rebuilding 202,831 damaged houses, while 10,909 other houses are still under construction.
Earthquakes rattle various parts of Indonesia on a regular basis since 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 activity.
On January 15, 2021, a 6.2-magnitude earthquake, accompanied by several aftershocks, struck the districts of Mamuju and Majene in West Sulawesi province, leaving 100 people dead and destroying several buildings. (INE)
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EDITED BY INE
Translator: Nirkomala, Rahmad Nasution
Editor: Suharto
Copyright © ANTARA 2021
