Power crisis inhibiting investment in North Sumatra: Official

Apriadi Gunawan, The Jakarta Post, Medan | Tue, 11/17/2009 9:44 PM

Not only has the protracted power deficit caused hundreds of companies in North Sumatra to cut production, but a number of foreign investors have reportedly relocated their plants from the province.

North Sumatra Investment Coordinating Board chief Salman Ginting on Tuesday said a Japanese investor recently canceled its bid to open a silicon production plant in Deli Serdang and had gone to Surabaya instead because of the limited power supply.

“Their reason made sense because the power supply in North Sumatra could not meet their demand,” Salman said.

Many other foreign investors had reconsidered plans to do business in the province for similar reasons.

PT Kawasan Industri Medan (KIM) industrial estate marketing manager Jefri Sirait said the power crisis had forced at least 340 companies operating in the industrial estate to halve their production capacities over the last five years. Other companies have been forced to close their operations, he added.

“So far there have been no new investors expressing interest in opening plants in the industrial estate because of the power shortages,” Jefri said.

Power outages resulting from maintenance work at the gas-fired Belawan power plant have exacerbated the crisis, he said.

Salman recommended the government accelerate the construction of the Asahan III and Tanjung Pasir power plants to end to the deficit.

Jakarta not cut out to host int’l artists, say experts, fans

Hasyim Widhiarto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Tue, 11/17/2009 10:48 AM

Twenty-five-year-old Girindra Pradana, a resident of Pejaten, South Jakarta, says attending music concerts in Jakarta is a bittersweet choice for him.

“Most of the concerts, especially those presenting famous foreign artists, are packed into venues that are too small, creating uncomfortable acoustic and viewing experiences for some members of the audience, including me,” Girindra, who runs an events agency, said.

But, that was not the only problem, he said.

“Before and after shows you can almost guarantee, if you are a motorist like me, you will have to spend a long time dealing with cars because often at concert venues there are not enough parking spaces.”

Finding that watching concerts in Jakarta was often stressful, Girindra said he preferred to save up and fly to Singapore if there were any top international bands or favorite artists performing there.

“Even though it is a bit expensive, at least I don’t need to worry about the quality of the show or getting to the venue,” he said.

In recent years, Jakarta has been attempting to position itself as the creative industry hub of the Southeast Asia region, by holding dozens of music festivals such as the Jakarta International Java Jazz Festival, Java Rocking Land, JakJazz and Jakarta International Blues Festival.

Earlier this month, at the opening of the blues festival, Jakarta Governor Fauzi Bowo said he hoped to see Jakarta become “the city of music festivals.”

Experts, however, say the governor’s vision will be impossible to achieve if his administration does not place more concern into improving infrastructure for the music industry in Jakarta.

Music industry observer Denny Sakrie, for example, said the administration should build a new venue that could accommodate an international-scale music concert.

“At present, most music concerts are held in venues that were not designed for music,” said Denny, citing the Jakarta Convention Center’s Plenary Hall and Senayan Indoor Stadium in Central Jakarta.

“Instead of allowing investors to build more shopping malls, why doesn’t the administration allocate some city spaces and budget to build a representative concert hall?”

The establishment of a world-class music concert hall would be a good investment for the city since it would attract international artists and concertgoers to Jakarta, University of Indonesia urban economics expert Sonny Harry Harmadi says.

“It will be a strong icon to show Jakarta to the world,” he said.

The idea to develop the city into an arts and cultural center is not a new concept.

Singapore, for example, has gone a few steps further by establishing its Esplanade Theatres on the Bay, which features a 1,600-seat concert hall and a 2,000-seat theater, aiming to be a leading center for performing arts in Southeast Asia.

The Esplanade - Theatres on the Bay, Singapore (Photo: Mori Hidetaka)

Hong Kong also plans to build a 40-hectare integrated arts, cultural, entertainment and commercial area in the city.

Responding the call from residents and experts to build a more representative concert hall, Deputy Governor Prijanto said while he welcomed the idea the city administration currently had to prioritize budget and resources for more important programs, such as flooding mitigation and the improvement of road infrastructure.

Govt to restore 11 rivers to prevent water scarcity and flood

Adianto P. Simamora, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Sat, 11/14/2009 9:19 PM

The government unveiled on Saturday an ambitious plan to restore 11 muddy and poisonous rivers as part of the government’s move to adapt to climate change.

Antung Deddy, assistant deputy minister for river and lake management at the State Minister forEnvironment Office, said the program would be among the top priority of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono’s administration.

The plan is also aimed to prevent flooding since global warming is likely to instigate heavy rainfalls that would come in short period.

“The government will focus on efforts to upgrade water quality of the country’s biggest rivers so that one day, people can use it including for agriculture sector or as sources of clean water,” Antung said.

The rivers include Ciliwung River in Jakarta, Citarum River in Bandung, Siak River in Riau, Batanghari River in Jambi, Musi River in Palembang, Cisadane River and Citanduy River in Bogor, Bengawan Solo River in East Java and Barito River in Banjarmasin, South Kalimantan.

Currently, water in the country’s biggest rivers could not be used because of excessive pollution.

Data from the State Minister for Environment Office showed water quality in the 11 rivers was classified as heavy polluted due to massive chemical wastes from industries, households and agriculture activities.

Antung said the government would also maintain the quantity of water flowing into the river by rehabilitation of forests along the rivers.

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Indonesia's rivers are under stress from pollution, garbage and erosion. (Photo: Bagus Indahono, EPA)

River Dams and Irrigations Dykes Damaged

Tempo Interactive, Aris Andrianto, Friday, 13 November, 2009 | 20:56 WIB

Purbalingga: Due to continuous rainfall, 23 dams and irrigation dykes have been damaged, resulting in thousands of hectares of agricultural lands at risk of getting insufficient water.

“The erosion of river banks is the main reason for this,” said Adi Saptono, Purbalingga Public Works Office chief in charge of Irrigation, yesterday.

The rivers include the Klawing, Kuning, Serayu, Grantung and Laban. Every year, around half a hectare of the rivers leak out at about one kilometer internvals. Purbalingga Agriculture Office chief Lily Purwati said the damages to the dam could adversely affect the farmers’ planting pattern.

Village empowerment fund seen as time bomb for Papua

Nethy Darma Somba, The Jakarta Post, Jayapura, Papua | Sat, 11/14/2009 5:35 PM

Financial assistance worth Rp 100 million extended to each village in Papua will leave a time bomb that may explode in the coming few years, a conference hears.

Bintang Mountain representative to the international conference, Spey Bidana, said Papuan villages had heavily relied on the annual government aid and been reluctant to seek alternative sources of revenue.

“I am worried about the prospect of the program as it has created people’s dependency on the government,” Bidana said, referring to the annual village empowerment fund extended to remote villages to accelerate development there.

Bidana said the village people lacked experience to manage the fund. “They should have undergone training before the money was extended. People may think they can get huge money without breaking any sweat,” he said.

Another speaker, Josias Serontouw who represented customary communities, said the village empowerment fund had raised a question about fairness. He said a village inhabited by dozens of people received the same amount as an overpopulated village, which he said was unfair.

Agus Sumule, an advisor to the governor, said the provincial government had improved implementation of the scheme, including allocation of fund based on the size of population.

China`s Huwaei to set up training centers in Indonesia

Antara News, Friday, November 13, 2009 15:10 WIB

Chinese telecommunication giant Huawei plans to establish two major training centers and a Research & Development (R&D) center here, a senior Huawei official said on Thursday.

Huawei tech Investment President Director Ma Yue said that the planned training centers are expected to graduate 1,500 credible Indonesian telecommunication technicians each year.

According to Ma, Huawei has supplied telecommunication equipment for 9 mobile telecommunications operators operating in Indonesia to develop their GSM (Global System for Mobile) and Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) telecommunication networks.

Quake destroys history in Padang

Syofiardi Bachyul Jb , The Jakarta Post , Padang | Fri, 11/13/2009 9:50 AM

Into pieces: The quake destroys the See Hin Kiong temple in the area of Pondok in Padang.

The 7.9-magnitude earthquake that shook West Sumatra on Sept. 30 did not only destroy homes and modern buildings in the city of Padang, but also ancient and historical buildings from the Dutch colonial era.

Many of the buildings — built in the European style and mostly located in Padang Kota Lama area — were more than 100 years old.

Eko Alvarez, the head of the Architectural Conservation Study Center at Bung Hatta University, had counted 244 buildings registered with the Indonesian Heritage Conservation Agency.

After the earthquake, 119 buildings were heavily damaged, 68 partially damaged, 41 lightly damaged, and only 16 suffered no damage.

“The old buildings we kept a record of stood in the area starting from the West Sumatra governor’s office, in the Jl. Sudirman, and stretching across to the area of Jl. Batang Arau.

More than 70 old buildings in this area were listed as heritage buildings of Padang,” Eko told The Jakarta Post.

The heavily damaged and even destroyed buildings included the Mesjid Gantiang Mosque, Padang city’s oldest mosque built in 1815, the 1861 See Hin Kiong Temple, Agnes Elementary, the oldest Catholic school in West Sumatra founded in 1900, the Chapel of the Convent of the beautiful SCMM inaugurated in 1903, and the Catholic Church erected in 1933.

While old buildings were built with thick walls and had been well maintained, the quake was too strong for many large edifices to hold together.

Meanwhile, some other buildings easily succumbed to the earthquake because of a lack of maintenance and rotting timber.

“The rotten buildings hadn’t been reinforced and were abandoned. Actually, even if there had been no earthquake, these buildings would have eventually collapsed,” said Eko.

Before and after: A beautiful historical building in Jalan Pasar Melintang in Kampung Nias, estimatedly built in 1902 (photo above), left severely damaged after an earthquake hit the area (photo below).

In Kampung Nias, on Jl. Pasar Melintang, the façade of a roadside residential settlement built in 1902 collapsed, destroying the beautiful classical ornaments belonging to the two-level terrace building.

“The damage and destruction of buildings that were part of the city’s culture and heritage have created serious concerns for the government, the city of Padang and the community. This situation must be handled quickly and in a controlled manner, otherwise renovations will destroy everything,” he said.

Eko, who noticed some owners had already started to renovate their properties, warned the government should oversee the renovations.

“Do not let the earthquake that hit the city of Padang change the face of the city.”

The people who will rebuild the historic buildings should be given photographs and the original dimensions [of those buildings]. The work should also be handled carefully,” he said.

According to Eko, the management has already reported its assessment of the state of the historic buildings to a number of related authorities, including the coordinating minister for the people’s welfare, the minister for public housing, and the minister for culture and tourism.

“In summary, the recommendations contain suggestions for renovating the buildings by following conservation rules,” he said.

The disaster did not only damage the buildings but also their historic collections.

The Indonesian Heritage Trust (BPPI) reported in Jakarta that the massive quake had ruined 300 ceramic collections from the Ming and Ching dynasties at Padang’s Museum Adityawarman, while thousands of valuable books and documents were damaged at West Sumatra’s Archive and Library body, leaving only 5 percent of the collection intact.

The association plans to hold a series of events titled Action for Heritage Emergency Response Post Disaster West Sumatra in Jakarta from Nov. 13 to Nov. 30.

Meanwhile, Padang City Mayor Fauzi Bahar admitted that he not yet made any special plans to renovate the protected buildings.

“I’ve heard there are experts who can restore buildings to their original form, but there has been no talk of renovation,” he told the Post.

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Jakarta Luxury Homes Face Electricity Cap

The Jakarta Globe, Ulma Haryanto & Reva Sasistya

Tailors working by candlelight in Central Jakarta on Thursday. The shop was plunged into darkness for three hours. (Photo: Yudhi Sukma Wijaya, JG)

Having failed to meet the demand for electricity, the state power utility’s latest solution to the rolling blackouts afflicting Greater Jakarta includes cracking down on what it calls excessive consumption by a small number of upscale homes.

In a 10-day program that could begin this weekend, PT Perusahaan Listrik Negara will install “load controller” devices in 200 homes that will automatically cut the power if they use more than a certain amount at peak periods.

“Right now we are still gathering information, and we still need to purchase more devices, but we are expecting to start our house visits at the end of this week,” Purnomo Willy, PLN’s general manager for distribution for Jakarta and Tangerang, told the Jakarta Globe.

“We are targeting homes with power usage of more than 30 kilowatts.”

Meanwhile, 300 businesses were also likely to face tough restrictions on their power use, with PLN saying they should run on their own generators at peak times.

Greater Jakarta faces a daily power deficit of 170 megawatts that has forced PLN to ration power across the city and its suburbs since early this month. The household-monitoring scheme will only save about 3 MW per day, and the devices are expected to cost Rp 1 billion ($106,000).

Nonetheless, PLN is moving forward with the plan, Purnomo said, adding that the areas to be targeted include Pondok Indah, Menteng and Kebayoran Baru.

“We will ask for homeowners’ compliance. I know for sure some will resist or complain, but we are used to it now,” he said.

And they are likely to become more accustomed to it soon. One homeowner, Dien Soeprapto of Pondok Indah, said she was angry about PLN’s service.

“We always pay every month. We are good customers,” she said. “The rolling blackouts are already a disservice to my home and my business. We are 10 years behind. We are worse than Vietnam.”

Purnomo said PLN hoped the load controllers would force homes to reduce their power consumption by up to 30 percent.

State Enterprises Minister Mustafa Abubakar on Thursday said PLN would have to go even further to conserve electricity.

“We are going to impose efficiency measures in industrial areas in Pulogadung and Tangerang by urging 300 businesses to switch some of their electricity use to generators” during peak times, he said, during a surprise inspection of the Cawang power station.

The station has been closed for repairs since a fire there in late September disrupted service and eventually triggered the current spate of blackouts.

“We also urge malls and shopping centers to switch to generators, and they will have to increase room temperatures from 23 degrees to 25,” Mustafa said.

“There will also be socialization [programs] for households to start saving electricity.”

PLN officials told to address power outages or lose jobs

Nani Afrida, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Thu, 11/12/2009 7:19 PM

State SOE Minister Mustafa Abubakar has asked officials of state electricity company PT PLN to immediately address the ongoing power shortage in the country, especially in Jakarta, or risk losing their jobs.

“I will discipline those who fail to meet the electricity crisis settlement deadline. I will also reward those who meet the deadline,” Mustafa said during a visit to the Cawang Baru substation in East Jakarta on Thursday.

“Their jobs are at stake. I have asked for no more blackouts in West Jakarta by December 1st,” he added.

An explosion last month at the Cawang substation, which distributes power throughout Java and Bali, caused power shortages across Jakarta. PLN has said the blackouts will end next month.

Mustafa said he had asked PLN officials to take concrete measures to resolve the power outages.

He also urged the state company to curb power theft to 8 percent from 8.6 percent by the end of this year.

“We’ll see where we stand in relation to targets at the end of the year,” Mustafa said.

Neglected lakes to exacerbate flooding

Adianto P. Simamora, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Thu, 11/12/2009 8:47 PM

Most small lakes, situ, are in a critical condition due to high sedimentation rates, putting thousands of people at risk of a “flash floods”, like the one that occurred at Situ Gintung last March.

A study by State Environment Ministry found that 15 small lakes in Jakarta, West Java and Banten will overflow if no action is taken to repair infrastructure. Rain is forecast for next week.

“Situ Ciledug and Situ Parigi in Tangerang and Situ Depok are considered the most susceptible to overflow,” Antung Deddy, deputy assistant minister for river and lake management, said Thursday.

He said thousands of people living near the three lakes were at risk.

Lakes serve as catchments during the rainy season, preventing flooding. They act as reservoirs during the dry season. However, many small lakes have been converted into residential or business estates.

“The main problem is the absence of a body to manage the lakes,” Antung said.

When the Situ Gintung embankment collapsed, a million cubic meters of water flooded the area, killing 100 people and destroying more than 300 houses.

Thousands panic after substation explosions in Palu

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Thu, 11/12/2009 6:18 PM

Hundreds of workers at the mayor’s office in Palu rushed from their rooms after hearing explosions from an electricity substation belonging to state power company PT PLN near the office Thursday.

Wiwik, an office worker, said she quickly evacuated after hearing her colleagues screaming.

“Some of my friends said there was a fire but I myself didn’t hear the explosions,” she told news portal tempointeraktif.com.

Palu administration secretary Arifin Hi Lolo confirmed the explosions.

“Several explosions occurred at the substation, but fortunately the fire was extinguished by office staff. We have asked PLN to check and make necessary repairs,” Arifin said.

The PLN spokesman in the Palu branch, Petrus Walasary, said his office would fix the damage so the substation could be operational again.

“It will take time to ship the spare parts in as we have to source them from Italy,” he said. (ewd)

Brazil's 2 largest cities hit by blackouts

The Jakarta Post, Rio de Janeiro | Wed, 11/11/2009 8:21 AM

Looking pale: The Copacabana beach is seen during a blackout in Rio de Janeiro. A massive power failure threw Brazil's largest cities into darkness Tuesday night along with other parts of the country affecting millions of people. AP/Felipe Dana

Brazil's two largest cities have been hit by a massive blackout that has also affected other parts of Latin America's largest nation.

Media reports say problems at a huge hydroelectric dam are to blame for the electrical outages affecting large parts of Rio de Janeio, Sao Paulo and other cities in several states.

The G1 Web site of Globo TV says Brazil lost 17,000 megawatts of power after an unspecified problem happened at the Itaipu dam that straddles the border of Brazil and Paraguay.

Officials did not immediately comment on Tuesday's outages. The blackouts came three days after CBS's "60 Minutes" news program reported several past Brazilian power outages were caused by hackers. Brazilian officials played down the report.

Source: The Associated Press

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One in five residents in Mimika illiterate

Markus Makur, The Jakarta Post, Mimika, Papua | Tue, 11/10/2009 9:10 PM

More than 22 percent of the population of the Mimika regency in Papua, or about 40,000 people there, are illiterate.

Mimika, with a population of 175,000, ranks fifth in term of the illiteracy rate in the province, after Wamena, Merauke, Paniai and Nabire regencies, said Yesaya Sombuk, head of Mimika Education Agency, on Tuesday.

Papua itself has the highest illiteracy rate among the country’s 33 provinces

The agency is offering a three-month literacy course in the regency’s 12 districts with 1,200 residents joining the program, which kicked off Tuesday.

Those who are illiterate – both native Papuans and migrants – are found not only in remote areas, but also in urban areas, including in Timika, the regency’s capital. The first course, however, is targeting those in the hinterlands, mountains and coastal areas.

Mimika is home to one of the world’s richest gold mines operated by US-based company PT Freeport Indonesia.

Foreign Businesses Frustrated by Blackouts in Jakarta

The Jakarta Globe, Dian Ariffahmi, Yessar Rossendar & Teguh Prasetyo

Foreign manufacturers are joining the growing list of industries unhappy with Jakarta’s ongoing blackouts, saying frequent work stoppages are gouging into their production and endangering millions of dollars in overseas investments.

A 28-member delegation of Japanese business leaders complained about the outages to Industry Minister MS Hidayat on Monday.

The group was from the Kansai Economic Federation, also known as Kankeiren, which represents thousands of firms from Japan’s Kansai region that operate in Indonesia.

Hidayat said the Kankeiren delegation told him the blackouts in the city were burdening their business activities.

“They didn’t mention which companies are suffering from this power problem, but they represent all business players and investors who put their money here,” Hidayat told reporters after the meeting.

“I told them I am sorry, it is also affecting local industry. But I assured them that electricity infrastructure is among the top priorities in the [Yudhoyono administration’s] 100-day program. So it will be fixed as early as possible,” Hidayat said.

A senior official with PT Perusahaan Listrik Negara, the state electricity utility, said last week that Jakarta, Bekasi and Tangerang would continue to experience rotating four-hour shifts of power rationing through the end of the month.

PLN is struggling to meet demand for power in Greater Jakarta since a fire at its central facility in Cawang, East Jakarta, in September. The blaze triggered mechanical problems with other generators on the grid this month because they were overloaded.

Eddy Widjanarko, chairman of the Indonesian Footwear Association (Aprisindo), said shoe factories were operating at only between 50 to 60 percent capacity because of the unstable power supply.

Eddy said Aprisindo was meeting on Monday with seven Korean footwear producers to discuss the blackouts.

In a desperate move to guarantee a power supply, “the seven South Korean firms, which own factories in Gunung Putri, Bogor, in West Java, are now considering setting up their own coal- and gas-fired power generators,” Eddy said.

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The few, the wet

The Jakarta Post | Tue, 11/10/2009 11:47 AM

The Indonesian Military’s Marines clean up part of the Ciliwung River in the Juanda area, Central Jakarta, on Monday. The activity, involving more than 3,000 marines, was held in conjunction with the 64th anniversary of the corps, which falls on Nov. 15. JP/Nurhayati

Drought-Stricken Makassar Residents Digging More Wells in Search of Water

The Jakarta Globe, Dzal Gibran

Makassar. Prolonged drought due to a delayed onset of the rainy season in Indonesia has forced residents of Makassar, South Sulawesi, to dig more artesian wells as water supplied by the city has run low.

“If you’re lucky, you get water in the first drill, but in most cases we strike water on the third try,” Yohanis, a resident of Bumi Tamalanrea Permai housing complex, said over the weekend.

Yohanis said most houses in the compound have gone without running water and that many wells there have also dried up, forcing residents to drill new ones. Residents usually drill in several locations before finding water due to the poor equipment being used, he said.

He added that the drilling fee for one well was Rp 1.8 million ($190), excluding the fee to rent a vacuum.

Residents who have wells complained that the water is yellowish, forcing them to strain it before using it for cooking or laundry.

“We don’t know if that kind of water is good for consumption or not, but we have no choice but to use it,” said Basir, who lives on the same block as Yohanis.

Other residents have to line up to buy water from street vendors. A 20-liter jerry can of water sells for as much as Rp 500.

The residents said some companies have offered water at the price of Rp 80,000 for 100 liters, which most residents consider too high.

“That’s the way it is here,” said Andi, another resident at the housing complex, who has lived there since 1992.

The city tap water company, the PDAM Makassar, said it has sold water to local residents using trucks, but residents said they never received the water.

“Every day a PDAM truck passes by here, but the driver tells us that someone else has ordered the water,” Basir said.

Suwarjo, a spokesman for the South Sulawesi Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency, said temperatures in Makassar had reached 38 degrees celsius, making the city one of the hottest areas in the country.

At this time last year, the temperature was between 30 degrees and 35 degrees.

The heat has been caused by absorption of the sun’s direct irradiation on the earth’s surface, he said.

The weather agency predicted temperatures would remain high for another week or two.

“The extreme high temperatures should not have happened. But due to El Nino the rainy season will start very late,” Suwarjo said.

He said the weather agency predicted the rainy season would start at the end of November and peak in early January to February. The rainy season is predicted to have no impact on the sea waves, so that marine activities should be able to continue as usual.

“The agency predicts that in the rainy season the waves will remain relatively safe. But people should be careful when there is heavy rain combined with strong winds,” he said.

Indonesian Red Cross to Build Houses For Padang Quake Victims

The Jakarta Globe, Putri Prameshwari

An earthquake survivor sits at a temporary shelter built on the ruins of her house in
Kudu Gantiang village, Padang Pariaman, West Sumatra. (Photo: Binsar Bakkara, AP)

The Indonesian Red Cross is planning to build more than 2,000 temporary houses in West Sumatra to accommodate people left homeless by the Sept. 30 earthquake.

Hidayatul Irwan, the operational coordinator for the Indonesian Red Cross (PMI) in West Sumatra, said on Sunday the houses would be built in the areas most affected by the 7.6 magnitude quake.

“These temporary houses will be given to quake refugees who need them most,” he said, adding that the number of houses could still increase.

The 4-by-6-meter houses are not big, Hidayatul said, but can still provide a living space and reduce the risk of catching a disease compared to living in tents.

“They deserve to live in someplace clean and healthy until they get their homes back,” he said.

Hidayatul said the houses would be built in Pariaman and Padang cities, and the districts of Padang Pariaman and Agam. Each house will cost around Rp 3 million ($320) to construct. He did not say where the money would come from.

As early as next week, groups of 10 people could start constructing the houses, accompanied by volunteers from the PMI, he said. “Hopefully, one house will only take two to three days to build.”

Antara news agency quoted Marlis Rahman, West Sumatra’s deputy governor, as saying that he welcomed the plan. He also called on people who do not get the houses not to be “jealous.”

“We all want for the situation to get better, of course,” he said. “But the process will take time.”

Hidayatul said the PMI was coordinating with local government so the assistance would not overlap with programs by other donor organizations.

“It could spark jealousy among people if the temporary houses in one neighborhood look different from each other,” he said.

Ade Edward, head of West Sumatra’s Disaster Management Agency, said people needed temporary houses as they waited for the central government to begin reconstruction in the province.

“They are depending on donations from various sources [to build temporary homes],” he said.

The provincial administration has requested Rp 8.6 trillion from the central government for reconstruction. The request is now being studied by the Coordinating Ministry for People’s Welfare as well as the National Development Planning Board and the Finance Ministry.