"The construction of these houses is aided by the Kompas humanitarian fund for our brothers and sisters whose houses were destroyed by Cyclone Seroja," Rismaharini told reporters after handing over the assistance to eight heads of families in Babau Village, Tuesday.
The minister explained that the idea to provide housing assistance began when she and her entourage were on their way across Kupang District to Wini, Timor Tengah Utara District, for reviewing disaster handling there.
Rismaharini spoke of still having seen some tents inhabited by several families, who lost their homes to Cyclone Seroja that struck in April 2021.
"I visited the residents to see their condition and decided we need to handle the one in Babau in addition to Wini," she stated.
However, Rismaharini stated that the ministry has a limited budget, so she invited Kompas to help fund the house construction work.
"The construction of these houses was not funded by the Social Affairs Ministry. We just helped with the materials or furnishings," she noted.
At the event, Rismaharani, accompanied by several officials of the ministry and the district government, held a dialogue with the beneficiaries and paid attention to the residents' aspirations that were conveyed by community figures, village heads, and sub-district heads.
Some of the beneficiaries complained that their newly built homes are located near the river bank where normalization had not been conducted, thereby posing risks of flooding.
Responding to this concern, Rismaharani immediately reviewed the river condition.
The minister said that river revamping or normalization is not under the Social Affairs Ministry's authority, so it needs to be coordinated further, especially with the local government.
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Translator: Aloysius L, Kenzu
Editor: Sri Haryati
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