At the joint agreement signing ceremony regarding the synergy in managing pesantren infrastructure, here on Tuesday, he noted that the assistance will include the licensing and certification processes.
"Through today's agreement, we want to strengthen our role as the spearhead of development so that every pesantren, no matter how small, receives our attention," he said.
According to him, in the initial stage, the assistance will be provided in eight provinces, given the high number of pesantrens there.
Those provinces are West Java, East Java, Banten, Central Java, Aceh, South Sumatra, South Sulawesi, and South Kalimantan.
In regard to the assistance, the Ministry of Public Works has opened the 158 hotline, which can be accessed by pesantrens seeking support from the ministry.
"We are also providing assistance in preparing the planning documents for simple buildings," he said.
On that occasion, Minister Hanggodo also spotlighted new findings that there are only 51 pesantrens in Indonesia that have legal building permits.
To this end, he encouraged managers of pesantrens across the country to make the most of the service provided to create safe and comfortable buildings.
"We will direct and supervise policies, ensuring that every new building undergoes a proper and correct licensing process and that every learning facility meets standards," he remarked.
Concerns over the safety of school buildings have risen in the wake of the recent building collapse at Al Khoziny Islamic Boarding School in Sidoarjo, East Java, which killed 67 people.
The National Search and Rescue Agency (Basarnas) stated that 171 victims were found during the search and rescue operations, including 104 survivors.
In response to the fatal incident, the Indonesian government formed the Pesantren Development Arrangement Task Force, involving the Coordinating Ministry for Community Empowerment, the Ministry of Public Works, the Ministry of Religious Affairs, and regional governments.
The task force, which was formed to prevent the recurrence of such incidents at pesantrens in the future, will follow up on reports that it receives and check directly the conditions of the pesantren buildings.
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Translator: Sean Filo, Raka Adji
Editor: Azis Kurmala
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