Govt to Set Rehabilitation and Reconstruction Board

Jakarta, NU Online
The government will soon set up a rehabilitation and reconstruction board in quake-devastated West Sumatra province, a spokesman said.
 
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono had asked relevant agencies to find the right model of organization to carry out rehabilitation and reconstruction programs in the province, former chief of the Aceh-Nias Rehabilitation and Reconstruction Board (BRR) Kuntoro Mangkusubroto said after a limited cabinet meeting at the Presidential Office here on Monday.<>
 
The National Development Planning Agency (Bappenas) was expected to discuss the model of organization with the Finance Ministry on Tuesday, he said. In his directives prior to the cabinet meeting, President Yudhoyono wanted the rehabilitation and reconstruction efforts in West Sumatra to have the same pattern as those applied in the reconstruction of tsunami-hit Aceh and quake-affected Yogyakarta.
  
Kuntoro said it was such model of organization that would carry out rehabilitation and reconstruction programs in West Sumatra.  "But the definitive model of the organization will be decided tomorrow," he said.
  
Meanwhile, Chief of the National Disaster Mitigation Body (BNPB) Syamsul Maarif said the cabinet meeting had yet to discuss the amount of funds needed to finance the rehabilitation and reconstruction programs. It would take six months to reconstruct houses damaged in last Wednesday’s quake, while social services in West Sumatra were expected to return to normal in the next two years, he said.
  
He said the rehabilitation and reconstruction programs would be carried out without having to wait for the completion of two-month emergency responses. The Sept 30 quake left hundreds of people dead and thousands of houses damaged.
   
Official data from the West Sumatra natural disaster mitigation task force show by Monday afternoon the magnitude 7.6 quake killed 608 people and injured 569 people seriously and 897 others lightly. 
  
A total of 343 people were still missing until Monday, the data said.   The quake which was centered 78 km northwest of Padang, the capital of West Sumatra province, at a depth of 71 km in the seabed  caused major damage to 88,272 houses, moderate damage to 43,323 houses and minor damage to 47,076 houses. (kcm)