Following Up on the President's Visit, the Coordinating Minister for PMK Studies the Causes of South Kalimantan Floods

BANJARBARU (January 21, 2021) - Coordinating Minister for Human Development and Culture (Menko PMK), Muhadjir Effendy, made a working visit to South Kalimantan to follow up on the direction of the Indonesian President, Joko Widodo, who visited last Monday (18/1).

"This disaster is an opportunity to measure South Kalimantan's environmental capabilities and resilience," said Muhadjir in Banjar Baru, Thursday (21/1).

According to him, if the environmental resilience is good, even if faced with La Nina storms or other storms, then the earth of South Kalimantan will survive or at least not be as bad as it is now.

"Now there are 11 regencies/cities affected by a total of 13 regencies/cities in South Kalimantan," he said.

With the fact that South Kalimantan's flood has occurred, he said, it shows that environmental resilience is still weak. For that, he continued, an in-depth study was needed so that the 2021 South Kalimantan flood would not happen again or at least not be as bad as now.

"It is also necessary to form an understanding for residents, whether inserted in formal/informal education, as well as a thorough assessment, as promised by the South Kalimantan Regional Secretary, that there will be a thorough assessment of this flood," he explained.

He also highlighted the damage to infrastructure for public facilities and residential areas due to flooding. He added that there is a need for rehabilitation and reconstruction (rehab-recon) of heavily and lightly damaged infrastructure after the disaster.

"It is necessary to study the construction of resettlement, relocation, or the capacity of existing residents' houses to be increased so that if another flood occurs, it will not have a major impact on residents' settlements," he explained.

At this time, he asked local stakeholders to deal with temporary emergencies by speeding up the stagnant water so that it recedes immediately.

Muhadjir's arrival also brought aid for the refugees who were temporarily accommodated at the Regional IV Kalimantan Social Welfare Education and Training Center (BBPPKS) located in Banjarbaru City, South Kalimantan.

"There's not much (the aid I brought), this is to show the government's concern for them. Yesterday, the President and other ministers also provided assistance," he added.

On the sidelines of his visit, Muhadjir saw one of the evacuees who had just given birth to a daughter last Tuesday (19/1) and visited her.

"Ma'am, I added Ningrum to her name, so that she could be a beautiful, smart, devoted child to religion, parents, society," he said to his mother.

Up to now, there are 220 total evacuees in BBPPKS, consisting of residents of Banjar Baru and Banjar Regency whose houses were flooded.