BANDA ACEH, Dec 8 — Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto has approved up to four billion rupiah (RM994,207) in additional funds for each district and city affected by floods and landslides in Sumatra.
The ANTARA news agency reported that the decision was made after Home Minister Tito Karnavian requested two billion rupiah (RM497,103) per affected region during a coordination meeting yesterday on Sumatra’s disaster response in Aceh Besar, Aceh.
“The 52 districts and cities have dire financial conditions. Perhaps we can help by providing two billion rupiah for regional governments to help the people,” he told the President during the meeting.
Prabowo responded by agreeing to double the amount. “You asked (for) two billion rupiah for each district, I agree to give them four billion rupiah instead,” he said.
He then instructed Karnavian to identify the worst-affected province and decided to allocate additional support.
“For the worst-affected province, send 20 billion rupiah (RM4.93 million),” Prabowo added.
The President also urged regional leaders to continue working to ease public suffering caused by widespread floods and landslides, while assuring them of full central government support.
During the meeting, Karnavian highlighted financial challenges in affected areas, noting that contingency funds are running low.
“A region reported they only have 75 million rupiah (RM18,492) in contingency funds,” he added.
While the central government covers food, fuel, electricity, and other primary needs, regional authorities must address additional requirements for disaster victims.
Karnavian said he issued a circular instructing regions with surplus funds to assist others impacted by the disaster. The directive pooled 34 billion rupiah (RM8.38 million), which will be distributed to affected areas.
According to the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB), as of today, the disasters killed 929 people, left 274 missing, and affected millions across 52 districts and cities in Aceh, North Sumatra, and West Sumatra.
