The President also listened directly to accounts from residents displaced by last week’s flash floods and landslides on Tuesday (Nov. 25).
The multipurpose hall has served as the main evacuation site since the floods and landslides struck several areas in Central Tapanuli last week. Public kitchens around the site have been preparing thousands of meals for displaced families.
Accompanied by central and local officials, Prabowo visited the kitchen area, greeting soldiers who were preparing meals. He later met evacuee women and volunteers who were packing rice meals for distribution inside the shelter.
Inside GOR Pandan, evacuees lined up to greet and embrace the President, with some taking the opportunity to snap photographs with him.
Prabowo then inspected the medical post. A woman undergoing treatment hugged the President upon meeting him, while he also greeted health workers on duty.
As he walked back outside the hall, residents approached him again; one woman, in tears, spontaneously embraced the President.
Throughout the visit, Prabowo heard firsthand how residents fled as river levels surged and flash floods swept away their homes. Cabinet Secretary Teddy Indra Wijaya and State Secretary Prasetyo Hadi, who accompanied the President from Jakarta, also listened directly to evacuees’ stories.
At one point, Wijaya knelt to speak at eye level with a woman sitting on the floor, a gesture met with appreciation. He also spoke with a male evacuee about his experience at the shelter.
Addressing evacuees, Prabowo assured them that the government had activated all emergency measures and that aid was reaching all communities affected by the floods and landslides. He instructed his ministers and officials to respond swiftly, accurately, and comprehensively to the disaster and to ensure proper care for displaced residents.
Prabowo departed from the Halim Perdanakusuma Air Force Base in Jakarta on Monday morning with Wijaya and Hadi, heading to disaster-hit areas in North Sumatra and Aceh.
In North Sumatra, the presidential aircraft PK-GRD landed at Raja Sisingamangaraja XII Airport (Silangit) in North Tapanuli before the delegation continued by Caracal presidential helicopter to GOR Pandan in Central Tapanuli.
From the evacuation site, the President returned to Silangit and flew on to Kualanamu International Airport in Deli Serdang, North Sumatra, before continuing to Alas Leuser Airport in Kutacane, Southeast Aceh.
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Translator: Genta, Azis Kurmala
Editor: Arie Novarina
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