Govt to pay for Yogyakarta quake, damage

Bantul regency administration said Monday it would pay the medical bills of residents injured and compensate those whose houses were damaged in the 5.0-magnitude earthquake which rocked the region Saturday.

Regent Sri Suryawidati said the administration is waiting for data on the scale of damage and the amount of financial losses.

A team is currently surveying damage from the earthquake and will finish its work Thursday, she added.

“We will compensate medical injuries without exception,” she said when visiting people injured by the earthquake at state-run Panembahan Senopati Hospital on Monday.

Dozens of residents were treated for bruises and light injuries at a private hospital after the temblor and have since returned home.

“We will cover the earthquake victims’ medical costs at government and private hospitals,” Sri said.

Although there were no fatalities on Saturday, the earthquake was a stark reminder for residents who remembered the devastating earthquake that killed nearly 6,000 people and destroyed more than 300,000 buildings in Yogyakarta and its surroundings in 2006.

Another survey team has been dispatched to the provincial capital to measure damage in the Yogyakarta Palace compound, after reports were received of cracks and damage to at least three buildings, an official said.

Yogyakarta provincial Public Works Agency head Rani Sjamsinarsi said that the earthquake damaged the Bangsal Sri Manganti hall, the Bangsal Kencana hall and the Sarang Boyo sacred weapon storage building.

“We have deployed a special team to perform more detailed checks on the damage,” Rani said.

The team started work Sunday afternoon accompanied by royal family members KGPH Hadiwinoto and KGPH Prabukusumo, who are the younger brothers of Yogyakarta Sultan Hamengkubuwono X.

Experts on heritage buildings from Atma Jaya University Yogyakarta’s School of Technical Engineering also joined the survey team, which along with the provincial Cultural Agency will calculate the funds needed to restore the buildings in the Palace, she said.

Based on initial estimates, she said the Bangsal Srimanganti and Bangsal Kencana halls both suffered from damages to their umpak — stone padding used to support the pillars’ roofing construction.

“Some of the umpak cracked, weakening supporting timbers,” Hadiwinoto said.

”We will repair the damage after completing a detailed examination. If the damage is not serious, we will repair it ourselves by using the Palace’s funds,” said Hadiwinoto, who is in charge of the palace’s assets.