Tsunami; Govt to Relocate 600 Houses along Coastal Areas

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Public Works and Public Housing Minister Basuki Hadimuljono pondered to relocate people’s residences in the coastal areas of Indonesia following the Sunda Strait tsunami. The relocation would be adjusted to the regulation of the spatial planning and disaster-prone areas in the Ministry of Agrarian and Spatial Planning and the National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB).

When met at his office in South Jakarta, Thursday, December 27, Basuki could yet detail how far the topic would be discussed with other ministries. He explained the ministry, along with the BNPB and administrations of South Lampung and Banten, is still recording numbers of damaged houses.

“The number of houses is still being calculated, but it’s not too many, around 600 houses in Banten and Lampung,” said Basuki.

Read: Tsunami; Regional Admins Urged to Comply with Spatial Planning

The relocation issue appeared after Basuki released violation indications of the regulation on spatial planning following the tsunami in Banten; several houses were built too close to the shore and exposed to the active Anak Krakatau volcano.

“As stipulated on the Law of Spatial Planning, building houses along the coast is a violation,” he stressed. However, the policy might be different for each region based on the condition of the area and its vulnerability to disaster.

However, Basuki ensured that coastal areas directly face Mount Krakatau are restricted for people's houses. Therefore, PUPR Ministry planned to relocate the houses within an ideal distance of 50 to 100 meters from the coast.

Basuki continued to explain that he could not provide numbers of houses in the areas affected by the tsunami which indicated to violate the policy since the authority is under the Minister of Agrarian and Spatial Planning Sofyan Djalil.

FAJAR PEBRIANTO