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View all search resultsDiscontent grows in Aceh over flood response
Discontent grows in Aceh over how the administration of President Prabowo Subianto handles disaster relief, as the crisis driven by deadly floods and landslides has dragged on for nearly a month.
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Flooded and forgotten: A person puts a white flag in front of his damaged house on Dec. 17, 2025, following severe flooding in Jambak village, Pante Ceureumen district, West Aceh, Aceh. The white flags were raised by residents of the village to call on the government to immediately declare the devastation in Sumatra a national disaster, which will allow for international assistance to enter and help accelerate recovery efforts. (Antara/Syifa Yulinnas)
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iscontent is growing in Aceh over how the administration of President Prabowo Subianto handles disaster relief, as the crisis driven by deadly floods and landslides has dragged on for nearly a month.
People in the province have raised white flags along roads, in villages and at emergency shelters in the past few days to signal their inability to cope amid limited aid and restricted access to food in areas that remain isolated.
Aceh has been hit the hardest by the cyclone-induced disaster, accounting for nearly half the death toll and most evacuees. It has affected 18 regencies and cities across the province and damaged more than 100,000 homes.
“The situation is an SOS. It is understandable that affected residents are raising white flags as a call for help,” Aceh emergency response spokesperson Murthalamuddin said on Thursday.
But this is not the first time such despair has surfaced since rare Cyclone Senyar triggered floods and landslides in Aceh and neighboring North Sumatra and West Sumatra. Some regencies in Aceh and the West Sumatra administration previously acknowledged being overwhelmed, saying the scale of the disaster has exceeded their response capacity.
Suraiya IT, a senior adviser to Aceh Governor Muzakir Manaf, said the disaster may surpass the 2004 tsunami in terms of the extent of the areas affected.
“The people are extremely angry,” she told The Jakarta Post on Saturday, “because we urgently need assistance. The problem is that while the central government is [physically] present, it can’t cover everything.”
