Minister of Social Affairs Visits Pandeglang Earthquake Victims

PANDEGLANG (August 3, 2019) - The Indonesian Minister of Social Affairs Agus Gumiwang Kartasasmita visited earthquake-affected residents in Pandeglang Regency, Banten Province on Saturday.

"The government wants to ensure that the residents who are affected by the earthquake are handled well and that they receive help after the earthquake," said the Minister while assessing the residents' homes in Panjang Jaya Village, Mandalawangi District, Pandeglang Regency, Saturday.

The Minister of Social Affairs met Marsani (55) and his wife Salinah (50) in front of their collapsed house. In front of the Minister of Social Affairs, the two told a story during an earthquake on Friday night.

“I was playing with my grandson Fahri (10 months old) and then running outside the house. Only a few moments on the terrace, the roof of the house began to drop and the walls collapsed," explained Salinah.

Marsani and Salinah managed to save themselves with their grandchildren and youngest son Mulyawati (22). Currently, Marsani has evacuated to his eldest son’s house a few meters away from his home.

"Alhamdulillah (Thank God), for the help and attention of the Minister," said the man who worked as a farmer every day while shaking the Minister of Social Affairs' hand.

On the occasion, the Minister of Social Affairs also said that the damaged houses would receive the House Building Assistance (BBR) from the Ministry of Social Affairs. This assistance is in the form of money which will be distributed in non-cash through banks and used to purchase building materials.

"Residents whose houses were damaged will be recorded by Pandeglang Regency Government to find out the level of damage. Then the data is submitted to the Ministry of Social Affairs for verification and validation before assistance is transferred to the recipient's account," the Minister said to journalists.

Based on Permensos number 4 of 2015 about Direct Assistance in the Form of Cash for Disaster Victims, the amount of aid is divided into three, namely assistance for lightly damaged houses between IDR1 million - 5 million, assistance for medium damaged houses between IDR5.5 million - 10 million, and assistance for severely damaged houses varies from IDR10.5 million - 25 million.

The slightly damaged buildings are the houses of the disaster victims that were still habitable but needed repairs. The moderately damaged buildings are the houses of the disaster victims that are still habitable but damaged. On the other hand, the building was heavily damaged to the condition that it could not be occupied.

The Ministry of Social Affairs will also provide compensation for the heirs of Banten earthquake victims who died. Preliminary data show that three people died due to fatigue during the evacuation process to a safe point and a heart attack. The amount of compensation for each dead victim is Rp.15 million handed over to the heirs.

During this visit, the Minister of Social Affairs also symbolically handed over the assistance to the Pandeglang District Government received by Pandeglang Regent Irna Narulita in the amount of Rp240,935,000. This assistance is aimed at the victims of the Banten earthquake disaster, which consists of 500 pieces of tent rolls, 500 sheets of blankets, 800 ready meals, 300 side dish packages, 20 boxes of Family Equipment, and 20,000 packs of instant noodles.

"The Ministry of Social Affairs is very quick and responsive in the protection of victims of the earthquake disaster experienced by some Pandeglang residents, just like during the Sunda Strait tsunami last December 2018. Good synergy is very important in accelerating the fulfillment of basic needs for residents affected by disasters," said the Regent of Pandeglang.

Previously, responding quickly to the earthquake of magnitude 7.4 which was later revised to a magnitude of 6.9, the Ministry of Social Affairs mobilized the Disaster Alert Village (KSB) and Tagana personnel to evacuate residents from the coastal areas towards higher ground.

"The KSB proved to be very effective during the earthquake. Residents worked hand in hand to evacuate fellow villagers to take shelter together in safer places," said Minister Agus.

He explained that KSB moved quickly to help the evacuation process, set up evacuation routes, made sure they moved to a safe location at an altitude and provided counseling to the evacuation point after information on the potential tsunami had ended at 21.35 WIB.

The KSB are Cigeulis KSB, Sumur KSB, Angsana KSB, Pagelaran KSB, Cibitung KSB, Panimbang KSB, Cibaliung KSB, Carita KSB, Sukaresmi KSB, KSB Sidamukti and Labuan KSB. KSB was also strengthened by Tagana Pandeglang by 200 people.

Similarly, continued Agus, Tagana in other areas affected by the earthquake had also been on alert, namely 37 Tagana in Serang City, 65 in Tagana in Serang Regency, 30 in Tagana Lebak, 35 in Tagana in South Lampung, 20 in Tagana in Bandar Lampung, and 25 in Tagana in Bengkulu.

As is known by the Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysics Agency (BMKG), a magnitude 6.9 earthquake occurred at 19.03 WIB located 147 km southwest of the Sumur, Banten. The tsunami early warning caused by the earthquake ended at 21:35 WIB.

Accompanying the Minister's visit was Director General of Social Protection and Security Harry Hikmat, Exclusive Staff of Minister of Social Affairs Neil Iskandar and Febri Hendri, Head of Public Relations Bureau Sonny W Manalu, and Director of Natural Disaster Victim Protection Rachmat Koesnadi.

Head of Public Relations Bureau Ministry of Social Affairs RI

Sonny W. Manalu