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Reconstruction period extended in earthquake-damaged West Nusa Tenggara
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A number of earthquake refugees start to use temporary settlements built at a refugee post in Gondang village, Gangga district, North Lombok regency, West Nusa Tenggara. (The Jakarta Post/Dhoni Setiawan)
T
he government has decided to extend the emergency transition period in the earthquake-hit West Nusa Tenggara for four months until Dec. 25 from the previous deadline of Aug. 25, to finish the restoration of all houses damaged by the disaster.
National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) head Doni Monardo said at least 222,000 residences had been damaged by a series of strong earthquakes that jolted the island of Lombok, West Nusa Tenggara, in August last year.
“More than 170,000 of the buildings had already been repaired by today. We still have about four months to repair the remaining 50,000 units,” he said on Tuesday, adding that some 75,000 of the houses had been severely damaged, forcing the authorities to rebuild them from scratch.
The central government had channeled Rp 5.1 trillion (US$358 million) to restore all of the damaged and destroyed houses. Residents whose homes were severely damaged would get compensation of Rp 50 million each. Meanwhile, those with moderately and lightly damaged houses would receive Rp 25 million and Rp 10 million respectively.
“The residences should be restored using earthquake-resistant housing standards,” Doni added.
The languid pace of the reconstruction process, on the other side, had made more than 240,000 people who lost their dwellings to the earthquake practically homeless, as they have no choice but to stay in temporary shelters indefinitely.
Doni was speaking after attending a national workshop on post-disaster settlement in the province’s capital Mataram, which was jointly held by the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) and the Social Affairs Ministry.
