According to BNPB Data on November 25, 2022, at 17.00, the earthquake in Cianjur Regency had caused 310 fatalities and 24 people were still missing. In addition to that, 4,630 people were injured and ± 73,862 people were in evacuation. Post-disaster damage to houses according to the preliminary data shows that 59,043 houses were damaged, with the following details: 25,283 houses were heavily damaged, 12,756 houses were moderately damaged, and 21,050 houses were slightly damaged.
The survey conducted by RISE Indonesia on disaster survivors in Cianjur Regency last November 2022 has also concluded that one of the biggest impacts of the disaster was on houses, family sanitation facilities, public sanitation facilities, and house of worship. The aids that have been received by the survivors is mostly food, clothing and sanitation facilities, and the availability of good access. Most of them needs cash for their basic needs, food, and home repairs.
When visiting the site in Cianjur Regency, President said that survivors whose houses were heavily damaged would receive assistance of 50 million rupiah, for those whose houses with moderate damage, they would receive assistance of 25 million rupiah, while for those whose houses with minor damage, they would receive assistance of 10 million rupiahs. President also emphasized that the construction of these houses is required to use the building standards set by the PUPR Ministry. Considering the earthquake would likely to occur in a 20-year period. The BMKG predict that the shallow earthquake that occurred in November 2022 will occur again in a span of 20 to 30 years, therefore houses must be structurally strengthened to survive the danger of future earthquakes.
However, the disbursement of government assistance usually takes quite some time to be received by the survivors. As for previous experience during the earthquake in West Sulawesi (January 2021) and the Cyclone in Seroja (March 2021), the disbursement of aid funds has not yet been completed up until now (November 2022).
The delay in the disbursement of these aid funds is because BNPB is dependent on the speed of the District/City governments in carrying out the process of verifying and validating data of the recipients of aid funds. Then BNPB will transfer the funds to the survivor’s account based on the list of recipients that has been signed by the Regent. However, this process can take up to 6 months. While waiting for the disbursement of the aid funds, the survivors have repaired their houses independently, which means that they would use their own money based on their financial capabilities and also, they would not consider to follow the building standards for earthquake-resistant houses. Then when the government aid funds were finally disbursed (already transferred to their accounts), they had finished repairing their houses, and felt that they no longer needed to build earthquake-resistant houses or follow the building standards set by the PUPR ministry.
For this reason, RISE Indonesia feels the need to cooperate with various stakeholders in order to help overcome these problems. The survivors of the disaster in Cianjur Regency need to rebuild with the principle of building back better and safer. So, other than technical support in the form of training in strengthening earthquake-resistant building structures, survivors must also have access to financial services (bailout funds) to build houses while waiting for the disbursement of government aids fund in full.
In terms of technical assistance in the form of training to build earthquake-resistant houses, this can be done in collaboration with various NGOs that focus on housing and reconstruction. Meanwhile, in terms of access towards financial services, getting bailout funds while waiting for government aids funs to be disbursed can be done in collaboration with financial institutions. Lastly, in terms of the process of validating and verifying the data of survivors who is receiving aid, it needs to be carried out in collaboration with various government agencies such as BPBD, Social Service and BNPB.
