“The progress has been very significant. Connectivity provided through the SATRIA satellite, combined with Starlink, has greatly supported communication between residents and emergency workers,” Pratikno said in a statement issued in Jakarta on Thursday.
Restoring communication access, he said, is critical to ensure that affected residents can contact their families, request assistance and receive emergency information quickly, even as ground-based telecommunications networks have been damaged or disrupted by the disasters.
According to Pratikno, satellite technology allows communication to remain operational when terrestrial infrastructure fails, enabling residents to stay connected, field officers to coordinate relief operations and emergency services to respond more rapidly in difficult and often isolated locations.
The minister stressed that the government is mobilizing resources and allocating budget support at full capacity to strengthen disaster emergency response efforts and minimize further risks to affected communities.
“Cross-sector coordination is running in parallel. The National Disaster Mitigation Agency, the military, the National Police, the Ministry of Public Works and other ministries are working together to restore electricity, ensure fuel and liquefied petroleum gas supplies for local residents, and distribute logistics to remote areas,” Pratikno said.
He also assured that basic services for evacuees continue to operate and that hospitals in disaster-affected areas have resumed services, although some facilities are not yet functioning at full capacity due to infrastructure damage and power constraints.
In addition to emergency response, the government has begun constructing temporary shelters for flood victims as part of the early recovery phase, aimed at providing safer and more dignified living conditions while permanent rebuilding plans are prepared.
“Temporary housing construction is already underway. In West Sumatra, development has begun,” Pratikno said.
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Pratikno added that the government, together with all stakeholders, is committed not only to restoring disaster-hit areas but to rebuilding them in a way that is stronger, safer and more sustainable, ensuring greater resilience against future disasters.
Temporary housing projects are in progress in Palembayan, Agam District, West Sumatra, one of the areas hardest hit by floods and landslides.
Footage released by BNPB showed heavy equipment leveling land at the site on Wednesday, with building materials already delivered. Dozens of soldiers, along with BNPB and Public Works Ministry personnel, were seen measuring and preparing the area.
The temporary housing units will be built on the grounds of an elementary school in Kayu Pasak Village, with plans for 133 units on a 6,000-square-meter site.
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Translator: Asep Firmansyah, Resinta Sulistiyandari
Editor: Rahmad Nasution
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