Ministry of Social Affairs Ensures the Needs of Flood Refugees are Fulfilled

"We want to make sure that our stock of aid is sufficient to be distributed for the next few days," said the Minister of Social Affairs, Juliari P. Batubara while inspecting the location of the flood in the Ciledug Indah Housing Complex, Tangerang City, today (3/1).

The Ministry of Social Affairs has distributed logistical assistance, ready-to-eat food, blankets, kids ware, family kits, and cleaning equipment with a total value of 5.1 billion rupiah for the Jakarta, Bogor, Depok, Tangerang and Bekasi (Jabodetabek) areas.

For the City of Tangerang alone, the total assistance provided is IDR 40 million consisting of 120 packages of ready-to-eat food A, B, C, D, 40 packages of children's food, 1,400 packs of instant noodles, 40 blankets, and 10 rolled tents.

According to the Minister of Social Affairs, all aid was distributed to a number of posts which were affected by the floods. "The Ministry of Social Affairs obtains the latest data developments regarding the distribution of flood relief posts from the Social Service (Dinsos) of Banten Province, DKI Jakarta and West Java," said the Minister of Social Affairs.

The Ministry of Social Affairs, continued the Minister of Social Affairs, will focus on sending assistance to the points identified by the Social Service Agency.

The Ministry of Social Affairs also mobilized personnel from the Disaster Preparedness Cadets (Tagana) and the Disaster Preparedness Village Team (KSB) to a number of points. "We are deploying Tagana and the KSB Team to carry out the evacuation," said the Minister of Social Affairs.

A total of seven KSBs were also prepared, such as KSB Petogogan, KSB Pengadegan, and KSB Rawajati in the South Jakarta area. The other KSBs are scattered in a number of points in Jakarta, Bogor and Tangerang.

In addition to preparing a shelter location and meeting basic needs, the Ministry of Social Affairs also provides compensation for dead victims of 15 million rupiah. Meanwhile, referring to data compiled by the National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB), to date, the total number of casualties has reached 43. All of them, said the Minister of Social Affairs, would be handed over to the respective heirs.

The Minister of Social Affairs hopes that all assistance must be received by the refugees who really need it. "We directly distribute it to those who are entitled to receive it. The Ministry of Social Affairs does not make it difficult for residents to receive assistance with administrative matters," said the Minister of Social Affairs.

This is in accordance with the mandate of the President of the Republic of Indonesia, Joko Widodo, who wants to ensure that the country is present in the midst of the flood difficulties experienced by affected residents. "The President wants all components to step in and be actively involved in efforts to distribute aid to flood victims," said the Minister of Social Affairs.

The Minister of Social Affairs hopes that the floods that hit a number of areas in Indonesia will soon subside. "Hopefully all the efforts we do together can ease the burden on our brothers who were affected by the floods," said the Minister of Social Affairs.

In observing the location of the flood in the Ciledug Indah area, Tangerang City, the Minister of Social Affairs was accompanied by the Mayor of Tangerang, Arief Wismansyah and the Director General of Social Protection and Security, Harry Hikmat.