West Sumatra Floods Kill 23, Losses Hit Rp170 Billion

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Flash floods and landslides in Pesisir Selatan Regency, West Sumatra have caused losses estimated at Rp170.4 billion, leaving 23 people dead and six missing.

“The number is subject to change as it is only preliminary data,” the Head of the West Sumatra Disaster Mitigation Agency (BPBD), Rudy Rinaldi, said in Padang on Sunday, March 10.

He explained that based on reports from the Pesisir Selatan BPBD, flash floods and landslides had damaged or completely destroyed 16 bridges in several sub-districts. However, access to the Bengkulu-Padang Sumatra route via the southern coast was beginning to recover and return to normal.

“The Sumatra highway is starting to recover, but the access is still limited, and a one-way traffic system is applied,” he said.

The floods and landslides also damaged about 355 meters of road in Pesisir Selatan. Based on the preliminary data, at least 650 residential units were slightly to severely damaged, while more than 25,000 houses were flooded.

The Public Works and Housing (PUPR) Minister, Basuki Hadimuljono, targeted that the disaster handling could be completed in two weeks.

“I was assigned by the President to take measures to deal with the flood disaster in West Sumatra. The PUPR Ministry is responsible for restoring public infrastructure, especially roads and clean water,” Basuki said in Jakarta on Tuesday, March 12.

He added that the cleaning and repairing of the Padang-Painan Highway, Pesisir Selatan Regency is expected to be completed within the next two weeks and return to normal. Currently, the West Sumatra route from Bengkulu - Painan to Padang is open and accessible. However, the landslide material and affected houses are still being cleaned up.

Basuki also said that five out of 12 districts were severely affected by the heavy flooding and the worst was in Pesisir Selatan Regency.

“In this route, there are Pertamina's vital objects, whose distribution chain to other districts/cities must not be interrupted, including to Teluk Bayur Port in Padang and the transportation of CPO from Bengkulu. For this reason, I request that the roads affected by the landslides be completely cleared within this week,” Minister Basuki said.

ANTARA

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