BALINEWSID.COM, SOLOK — Indonesian Vice President Gibran Rakabuming, accompanied by National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB) Chief Lt. Gen. Suharyanto, inspected the response to the flash floods in Solok Regency, West Sumatra, on Friday (Sept. 25).

The visit was aimed at ensuring that emergency response measures, the fulfillment of residents’ basic needs, and post-disaster recovery efforts were being carried out effectively and according to conditions on the ground.

Gibran, accompanied by Suharyanto, the Governor of West Sumatra, the Solok regent, and representatives of ministries, agencies and local authorities, held a coordination meeting and visited several areas affected by the disaster.

During the visit, the Vice President also handed over logistical supplies, equipment and assistance to affected residents and evacuees. The assistance is intended to meet residents’ basic needs during the emergency response period.

At the coordination meeting, Gibran called for the accelerated recovery of infrastructure damaged by the disaster, including roads, bridges, clean water networks, river channels and agricultural land.

He also called for damaged government facilities to be addressed promptly so that public services could continue. Essential services, including civil registration and population administration, must remain accessible despite damage to government office buildings.

Particular attention was given to vulnerable groups, including pregnant women, children, elderly people and people with disabilities or other special needs. Local authorities were instructed to ensure that these groups were properly identified and that their needs were met during the emergency response period.

Gibran also stressed that basic necessities should be distributed to affected residents as soon as aid arrived. The management of relief supplies must be properly recorded, including incoming and outgoing goods, so that residents’ needs could be monitored on a daily basis.

Housing for Affected Residents

The availability of safe housing has also become a priority in the post-disaster response. Gibran instructed the authorities to prepare temporary and permanent housing for affected residents.

The housing sites should be located away from areas at risk of similar disasters while remaining reasonably close to residents’ previous communities, according to the government’s direction.

BNPB Chief Suharyanto stressed the need to accelerate the collection of data on all affected residents. The data collection will be based on households and will also include people who have evacuated independently.

The data will serve as a basis for distributing assistance and determining post-disaster recovery needs.

BNPB and local authorities will also accelerate the classification of damaged houses into heavily, moderately and lightly damaged categories. The data will subsequently be matched with population records and formalized through a decree issued by the Solok regent.

For residents whose homes have been severely damaged, local authorities have been instructed to provide safe and adequate temporary accommodation during the recovery period.

BNPB Supports Recovery Planning

BNPB is assisting the local government in preparing the Post-Disaster Rehabilitation and Reconstruction Plan, known as R3P.

The plan will be coordinated by the Regional Development Planning Agency (Bappeda), with the involvement of relevant local government agencies. It will identify rehabilitation and reconstruction needs across affected sectors.

The local government is also mapping the need for heavy equipment to accelerate the removal of flood debris and the restoration of damaged infrastructure.

Requests for heavy equipment and transport vehicles will be submitted to support the acceleration of the emergency response and recovery process.

In the basic services sector, local authorities and relevant agencies are continuing efforts to restore electricity and clean water networks. Work on rivers, roads and bridges is being carried out gradually based on technical assessments conducted in the affected areas.

The visit by Vice President Gibran and the BNPB chief is part of efforts to strengthen coordination between the central and regional governments in responding to the impact of the flash floods in Solok Regency.

The Solok Regency Government remains responsible for disaster management in the area, with support from the West Sumatra Provincial Government, BNPB, ministries and government agencies, as well as other relevant stakeholders.