Jokowi signs his instruction on Lombok quake handling

Jokowi to observe Lombok quake handling next week.

REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA -- President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) has signed a Presidential Instruction (Inpres) regarding the handling of the impact of the earthquake in Lombok, West Nusa Tenggara. According to the Head of State, with the existence of the Inpres, the parties handling the field already have a legal umbrella.

"It means that in the field, the ministry or institution has an umbrella for the implementation," the president stated at the Jakarta Muhammadiyah Da'wah Center Building on Thursday.

He noted that the handling of the impact of the earthquake in Lombok had been carried out nationally. The central government has cooperated with the provincial and district governments.

"Indeed, we are still in the stages of large-scale administrative process related to the delivery of assistance for repairing houses that are severely damaged, moderately damaged, and lightly damaged," the president noted.

He hoped that the community could immediately repair their houses again, so that the economic activities of the people could start again. "But we also have to remember that there were still aftershocks that are happening, similar to last night when there was a large aftershock," he explained.

Meanwhile, Cabinet Secretary Pramono Anung, when asked about the Presidential Instruction number, said he could not remember it. "I cannot remember the number, because it is being promulgated," he added.

He explained that the presidential decree did not stipulated the disaster in Lombok to be entirely a national disaster. "If it becomes a national disaster, then foreigners can enter arbitrarily. We are still able to handle it ourselves; this nation is still able to solve the problem of the Lombok earthquake by itself," he remarked.

He stated that Vice President Jusuf Kalla had left for Lombok on Wednesday (Aug 22), followed by himself. On Thursday night, the military commander and the national police chief would depart and lead direct coordination efforts in the field.

"The aim of the Inpres is to instruct the Minister for Public Work and Houses (PURR), as a coordinator, assisted by the Indonesian Armed Forces/National Police and the National Board for Disaster Management (BNPB), to immediately rehabilitate and normalize the damaged facilities," he pointed out.

He hopes that the efforts made by the government are not only for the benefit of the people in Lombok, Sumbawa, and its surroundings but also for the entire country. "When an earthquake occurs, we need to learn from other nations, such as Japan, to handle it with unity," he explained.

Meanwhile, regarding the budget for handling the impact of the earthquake, Pramono noted that the finance minister was given the authority by the president to cover those needs. "Hence, it is not true that if the budget is Rp38 billion, then the budget to replace damaged houses is more than Rp4 trillion."

The budget is divided into three classifications, namely Rp50 million, Rp25 million, and Rp10 million for heavily damaged, medium damaged, and slightly damaged houses, respectively. That figure is quite big," he elaborated.

Furthermore, Pramono stressed that the Rp4 trillion budget allocated could be increased if necessary.

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