While West Sumatra's emergency response program for the quake-hit area has officially ended, it will be followed up with a reconstruction stage that will last more than two years, an official said Sunday.
"Based on the reconstruction and rehabilitation programs for the 2007 quake, which needed two years, I think the reconstruction for the Sept. 30 *2009* quake will take longer," West Sumatra Disaster Mitigation Secretariat coordinator Ade Edward told The Jakarta Post.
The President would set the time and funding needed for the reconstruction, Ade said.
Ade further said the provincial administration planned to help finance the reconstruction of slightly damaged houses, with Rp 1 million (US$100) per house.
The administration had also proposed to help finance medium to badly damaged houses, spending between Rp 10 million and Rp 15 million on each. "The money would be taken from the emergency fund in the 2009 state budget," he said.
The administration officially ended its state of emergency on Oct. 31, and began a reconstruction plan on Nov. 1 in a decree signed by acting governor Marlis Rahman.
"The administration has achieved its emergency-stage targets, and regards the current conditions as conducive. If there are still some refugees here and there, they will be looked after by regency administrations," Ade said.
The magnitude-7.9 earthquake killed more than 1,000 people and destroyed thousands of buildings, mostly in the provincial capital (Padang) and Padang Pariaman regency.
The regency administrations would continue to receive donations such as food and clothing, and would distribute this aid to quake victims, Ade said,
Although the emergency has ended, the administration has decided to extend the program in the regencies of Padang Pariaman and Agam, he said.
Governor Marlis Rahman said reconstruction and rehabilitation would begin late in the two regencies, because thousands of people were still in temporary shelters there.
"Many people are still living in tents and need food supplies," Marlis told Antara on Sunday.
He added that the Agam regent had offered to relocate nearly 1,500 families displaced by the disaster to near Lake Maninjau. The victims would be relocated based on their clans, Marlis said.
More than 500 families in the Tanjung Raya district, Agam regency, were still living in refugee centers since their homes, located on the banks of Lake Maninjau, in an area prone to landslides.
"A landslide occurred during heavy rains on Saturday. An empty house plunged into the lake, and a mosque was buried," Tanjung Raya district head Kurniawan Syahputra said Sunday.
West Sumatra administration data shows that around 400 families in Padang Pariaman are still in refugee shelters.
