BNPB ensures housing support for NTT quake survivors

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3 hours ago

Jakarta (ANTARA) – Head of the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) Suharyanto has assured that support for damaged homes and all essential needs for earthquake victims in East Nusa Tenggara (NTT) will be fully met.

“We will help repair houses that suffered light and moderate damage. For severely damaged homes, the solution is permanent housing,” Suharyanto said while visiting earthquake survivors in Ende District, NTT, on Wednesday.

The BNPB will provide house repair assistance based on the level of damage, offering Rp15 million (around US$842) for lightly damaged homes and Rp30 million for moderately damaged ones.

Meanwhile, for severely damaged houses, the government will fund the construction of permanent housing.

Before permanent housing is completed, the BNPB is offering two temporary shelter options: survivors can either receive a housing allowance of Rp600,000 per month or stay in government-provided temporary shelters allocated for each household.

Suharyanto underscored that the support is part of the government’s effort to ensure residents have decent living conditions throughout the recovery process.

Therefore, response efforts must extend beyond emergency relief to targeted recovery tailored to the community’s needs.

“The most important thing right now is ensuring the data is accurate. Homes incurring light, moderate, and severe damage must be properly recorded,” Suharyanto said.

On that occasion, the BNPB head also called on local residents to remain vigilant, particularly by staying out of damaged homes until authorities declare them safe.

“We never know when an aftershock might strike, and your safety is the top priority right now,” he stressed.

In response to local residents’ need for shelters, the Ende District Regional Disaster Mitigation Agency (BPBD) has provided tents as an initial step to ensure residents have a safe place to shelter throughout the emergency response phase.

A magnitude 7.7 earthquake struck NTT on Saturday (August 15) morning, triggering a tsunami warning from the Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) that was later lifted.

According to the BNPB, the death toll has reached 71 as of Wednesday (August 19), while the number of evacuees stood at 59,647.