This was confirmed by Special Staff to the Agriculture Minister, Sam Herodian, after attending the Road to Jakarta Food Security Summit (JFSS) event in Jakarta on Tuesday.
He explained that the rehabilitation funds were prepared by the central government following direct instructions from President Prabowo Subianto to restore agricultural land damaged by the recent disasters.
According to him, the ministry has scheduled a groundbreaking ceremony for the rehabilitation project in Aceh this Thursday (January 15), marking the start of a coordinated recovery effort across the affected regions.
Apart from Aceh, the same measure will also be carried out simultaneously in North Sumatra and West Sumatra.
Herodian further said that his ministry is responsible for handling rice fields with light to moderate damage, while those incurring severe damage will be handled in coordination with other technical ministries based on their respective authorities.
"We will reshape the land for planting and provide equipment assistance," he affirmed.
The rehabilitation process includes land restructuring, irrigation repairs, planting assistance, and the distribution of farming machinery to ensure the fields become productive again as soon as possible.
The government aims to complete the rehabilitation of all affected rice fields by the first planting season, ensuring that farmers can continue production without missing the planting window.
Earlier, Agriculture Minister Andi Amran Sulaiman assured that farmers would not be charged for the restoration of flood-hit rice fields in Sumatra, emphasizing that every stage of the process will be accelerated.
“The government will take over the entire reconstruction process until the rice fields are fully restored. We will also provide equipment and free seeds,” he said during a monitoring visit to a flood-hit area in Central Tapanuli, North Sumatra, on Wednesday (December 3).
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Translator: Muhammad Harianto, Raka Adji
Editor: M Razi Rahman
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