Social Affairs Minister Saifullah Yusuf said in a statement on Sunday in Jakarta that the emergency effort is being carried out through inter-agency cooperation and collaboration, such as the National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB), the military (TNI), the national police (Polri), local governments, and volunteers.
“Public kitchens have been opened in multiple locations to ensure affected communities receive immediate assistance,” said the minister, who is widely known as Gus Ipul.
Daily meal distribution across the three provinces includes 109,224 portions in Aceh at 17 public kitchen sites; 34,254 portions in West Sumatra across three high-need districts; and 21,110 portions in North Sumatra, also spread across three high-need districts.
Gus Ipul emphasized that public kitchens are one of the ministry’s key instruments to ensure affected residents do not lack food supplies.
“We will make sure no area is left on its own. The public kitchens provide ready-to-eat meals, while basic food assistance reaches more remote areas. Collaboration is essential to ensuring everything can be handled quickly,” he stated.
The minister added that his office continues to monitor developments on the ground and expand assistance capacity according to community needs until the situation returns to normal.
According to data from the BNPB as of Sunday (Dec. 7) at 14:51 local time, the disaster in Sumatra has claimed 916 lives, with 274 people still missing and around 4,200 injured.
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Translator: Lintang Budiyanti, Kuntum Khaira
Editor: Azis Kurmala
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