Flood aftermath: A file photo of people walking along a road in a village affected by a flash flood in Batang Toru, North Sumatra, Indonesia. The slow pace of rescue and aid delivery has raised questions about the government’s disaster response capacity. — AP
With fatalities from the cyclone disaster in Sumatra approaching 1,000 and numerous regions still struggling to receive aid, questions are growing over whether the government can manage the situation without international assistance.
Two weeks have passed since flash floods and landslides triggered by a rare tropical cyclone first struck Aceh, North Sumatra and West Sumatra, leaving a devastating impact on residents and infrastructure at the northern tip of the island.
As of Monday night, the death toll across the three provinces had reached 961, with at least 289 people still unaccounted for and around 5,000 injured.
More than 157,000 houses and over 1,200 public facilities have been damaged in 52 regencies, according to the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB).
BNPB spokesperson Abdul Muhari said that more displaced residents were found in the East Aceh and Bener Meriah regencies in Aceh, bringing the total of evacuees across three provinces to over 1.05 million people.
Aceh Governor Muzakir Manaf pleaded for urgent action in his province, warning that public health is rapidly deteriorating.
“We are severely lacking in medicines, and people are starting to get rashes and other illnesses,” he said.
The slow pace of rescue and aid delivery has raised questions about the government’s disaster response capacity two weeks into the crisis.
Calls are growing for the government to open itself to international assistance, given the number of countries and organisations offering support.
President Prabowo Subianto has so far resisted declaring a national emergency, a designation that would allow foreign aid, maintaining that the current province-level emergency status is sufficient.
“This disaster is a calamity, but it is also a test. Thank God, we are strong; we overcome problems with our own (strength),” he said at an event last Friday.
Under former president Joko Widodo, Indonesia accepted foreign aid following the 2018 Central Sulawesi earthquake and tsunami that struck Palu, Central Sulawesi, helping to expedite emergency response and early recovery.
Asian Disaster Reduction Center researcher Mizan BF Bisri said the move “greatly helped the government’s response”, as more than a dozen countries sent logistical support and financial aid.
Kamaruzzaman from the Aceh administration noted that at least eight countries, including Turkiye, Russia and the United States were ready to help the province with disaster mitigation. — The Jakarta Post/ANN
