T

he Australian government, through the Australia Indonesia Facility for Disaster Reduction (AIFDR), launched a website on quake-proof houses campaign it has been carrying out since early this year.

The launch of the website — www.rumahamangempa.net — coincides with the one year commemoration of the massive earthquake that hit West Sumatra on Sept. 30 last year, destroying 249,833 homes and more than 7,000 public facilities.

Australia’s Chargé d’Affaires to Indonesia Paul Robilliard struck a gong to mark the website’s official launch at the West Sumatra Cultural Park in provincial capital Padang on Tuesday. The event was attended by West Sumatra Governor Irwan Prayitno, National Disaster Mitigation Agency’s (BNPB) Disaster Prevention and Response Affairs deputy Sugeng Tro Utomo, West Sumatra Vice Governor Muslim Kasim and actress Jajang C. Noer, who played a role in the media campaign program.

Robilliard said the new campaign would also use social network mediums, such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube to disseminate the latest information.

“More people living in quake-prone areas such as West Sumatra can access important information by providing materials online,” he said.

The program, he added, was part of the Australian government’s commitment to help Indonesia minimize casualties and economic impact in the event of a disaster.

Robilliard said overall, Australia had provided A$15 million to assist the post-quake recovery, of which A$10 million had been used to rebuild 39 schools and community health centers.

Earlier at the ceremony, Robilliard and US Ambassador to Indonesia Scot Marciel signed a plaque for the reconstruction of the SD 19 state elementary school in Olo village, Nanggalo in Padang.

The school, which suffered extensive damage in the quake, was rebuilt at a cost of Rp 1.5 billion (US$165,000). The school, including 39 other schools, which were built by the combined efforts of the Australian and the US governments, are expected to be completed this year.

Marciel said his government had provided $12 million in assistance for quake mitigation efforts in West Sumatra.

“I’m relieved to see the school reconstruction has been implemented successfully,” he said.

Governor Irwan expressed gratitude for the assistance from the Australian and US governments.

He said the Padang quake devastated 1,078 schools of all levels. In the past year, only 402 schools have been rebuilt by domestic and overseas relief organizations, while 399 schools are still in the process of signing memorandums of understanding with various relief agencies.

“The remaining 263 schools have not yet been handled and will be built with special allocations from the municipal and the respective regency budgets,” Irwan said.