Anita Rachman – As 90,000 families struggle to rebuild their lives in West Sumatra after a powerful 7.9-magnitude quake rocked the area on Sept. 30, the local administration has yet to receive funds from the central government to help them start rebuilding.
The rehabilitation and reconstruction phase officially began over the weekend. The goal is to rebuild Padang and surrounding areas, which were shattered by a quake that took just minutes to claim the lives of 1,115 people and severely damage 1,188 schools, 170 roads and 20 bridges, according to the National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB).
Ade Edward, the chief of the West Sumatra's Disaster Management Agency, said on Monday that the province would work with the donations it had already received from within Indonesia and overseas.
Meanwhile, it would wait for the central government to study the province's request for Rp 8.6 trillion ($903 million). It is estimated that the rebuilding process will take about six months.
Although the Coordinating Ministry for People's Welfare has received the provincial proposal, it needs to first study it to see if the request is realistic, Ade said.
The request would also be studied by the National Development Planning Board (Bappenas) before a proposal is made to the Finance Ministry, he said.
Quake victims were now working with the help of volunteers to build stronger shelters while they waited for the central government funding, Ade said. People are now moving from their emergency tents – typically set up in front of their destroyed houses – to better shelters, he said.
Ade said quake victims were gathering wood or any other building materials left by the earthquake to use to build more permanent shelters.
"This is the rehabilitation phase. People wanting to live in better conditions need to build roofs, either from wood or other materials they have managed to gather," he said.
He added that they would depend on donations from international and domestic sources.
The local government is classifying the damaged houses into groups, according to the extent of damage suffered, Ade said.
Each household would receive aid in accordance with the extent of damage suffered, he said. He added that once the groups have been finalized, people listed in each group should open bank accounts so that the administration could transfer the funds into their accounts for the rebuilding of their homes.
Ade said it is very likely that the central government will not provide any funding for rebuilding this year.
BNPB spokesman Priyadi Kardono said he could not provide specific information on how much money the central government would eventually provide for West Sumatra, and when it would be distributed.
"There will be some distributed this year I believe, but for the rest we will have to wait until next year," he said.