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View all search resultsBudget cuts cast shadow over disaster readiness
The National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) saw its budget for 2026 slashed to Rp 491 billion (US$29.1 million) from Rp 2 trillion in 2025, while the National Search and Rescue Agency (Basarnas) only got Rp 1.4 trillion for this year.
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Joint search and rescue personnel search for victims on Jan. 27, 2026, at the site of a landslide following heavy rains in Pasir Langu village, Cisarua district West Bandung regency, West Java. (Reuters/Ajeng Dinar Ulfiana)
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oncerns surfaced over the country’s disaster preparedness and response following recent budget cuts to disaster mitigation agencies, further raising questions over funding priorities in disaster-prone Indonesia amid intensifying hydrometeorological and other hazards.
Indonesia’s disaster mitigation efforts have been in the spotlight since critics noted the sluggish response from authorities to Tropical Cyclone Senyar-induced floods and landslides in northern Sumatra in November 2025, which killed more than 1,200 people and displaced hundreds of thousands more.
The country has also seen an intensified rainy season in the past few months that triggered floods, landslides and other hazards in various regions. Among the latest examples were landslide in Cisarua, West Bandung regency, West Java, where at least 74 have been confirmed dead and dozens of others missing.
Despite high exposure to disaster risk, agencies such as the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) and the National Search and Rescue Agency (Basarnas) have seen their state budget allocation reduced for this year as part of austerity measures introduced in 2025 to fund President Prabowo Subianto’s flagship programs.
During a meeting with House of Representatives Commission VIII overseeing social affairs on Feb. 3, BNPB head Lt. Gen. Suharyanto told lawmakers that limited funding had been a major challenge to disaster mitigation in the country.
For 2026, the agency only got Rp 491 billion (US$29.1 million), a sharp drop from the Rp 2 trillion allocated from the state budget in the previous year. In the past five years, around Rp 19 billion of the total budget was allocated for disaster prevention efforts.
“Of course this is very limited, but we cannot simply complain and stop working,” Suharyanto told the legislature.
