Some 300 meters of the road are covered with landslide materials.
Jakarta (ANTARA) - The Ministry of Public Works and Public Housing (PUPR) is preparing a 7.5-hectare relocation area to establish simple and healthy instant house (RISHA) units for the victims of landslides in Serasan Island, Natuna District, Riau Islands Province.

“We are preparing a relocation site with an area of 7.5 hectares and planning to build permanent housing using the RISHA method,” said PUPR Minister Basuki Hadimuldjono in a statement received on Saturday.

He said the materials for the development of housing would be supplied from Palembang City, South Sumatra Province, using a navy ship since Serasan Island is located in a frontier and outermost area.

The government will also construct other supporting infrastructure at the housing, such as roads, bridges, worship places, and water supply facilities, he added.

He said his ministry would determine the relocated residents according to recommendations from the Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysics Agency (BMKG).

“The (Natuna) district government said that there is still potential for landslides, thus we will assess which areas need to be relocated,” he noted.

The ministry has sent seven excavators to help with efforts in search, rescue, and evacuation at the disaster-affected locations.

Hadimuldjono, who visited the location on Friday (March 10, 2023), expected that the equipment could help the officers clear the landslide materials from the road in two days.

“Some 300 meters of the road are covered with landslide materials. Seven excavators have been operating since last night (March 9, 2023), and we target that the road will be cleared in two days,” he added.

The disaster, which occurred on Monday (March 6, 2023), destroyed 30 houses. However, BMKG recommended relocating 100 houses since they were built within the landslide danger zone.

The Joint Command for Landslide Emergency Response in Serasan and East Serasan Sub-districts recorded that the disaster claimed 44 lives, while 10 people were still declared missing.

Meanwhile, the Chief of Regional Military Command (Kodam) I/Bukit Barisan, Major General Achmad Daniel Chardin, told ANTARA on Saturday that 1,863 people sought refuge due to the landslides.

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Translator: Devi Ramadhan, Uyu Liman
Editor: Anton Santoso
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