Currently, (the debris of) nearly a thousand houses have been cleaned.
Jakarta (ANTARA) - The National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) has targeted to complete the clearing of ruins of houses damaged by the 5.6-magnitude earthquake in Cianjur District, West Java Province, within 40 days.

Head of BNPB Lieutenant General Suharyanto noted in a statement received on Thursday that after the cleaning was completed, the residents, who would not be relocated, could rebuild their homes at the same location where their houses were damaged.

"Our focus amid these 40 days is to have cleared up the ruins. Currently, (the debris of) nearly a thousand houses have been cleared up. Later, once the area is clean, the houses, which are not relocated, will be rebuilt in parallel,” he noted.

He remarked that the cleaning and rebuilding process is conducted by the community in collaboration with a special task force established by the government.

For the cleaning process, the task force comprises 2,500 personnel from the police, military, Public Works and Public Housing (PUPR) Ministry, as well as other related institutions, he noted.

“Every day, they (the task force officers) help the community to clean up debris," the BNPB head stated.

In addition, the government deployed over 40 units of heavy equipment to expedite the clearing of ruins, as it is challenging to complete the process without using them due to the vast extent of damage and the occurrence of landslides at some locations caused by the earthquake.

"The ruins cannot be cleared up only using hands, right? Hence, to date, there have been 40 units of heavy equipment dispatched throughout the 16 sub-districts (in Cianjur District)," Suharyanto stated.

People whose homes are not in the active zone of the Cugenang fault, which triggered the earthquake that hit Cianjur District at 1:21 p.m. local time on November 21, 2022, will be given assistance to renovate their houses, as they will not be relocated to the villages of Sirnagalih and Murnisari.

The government has allocated assistance worth Rp60 million for every severely damaged house, Rp30 million for moderately damaged house, and Rp15 million for slightly damaged house.

Suharyanto had earlier urged the community to be patient while waiting for the disbursement of funding and to not receive any house renovation funding assistance from another party since it will revoke their rights to receive funding from the government.

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Translator: Devi Ramadhan, Uyu Liman
Editor: Sri Haryati
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