REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA -- The National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) would speed up rehabilitation and reconstruction of the earthquake hit region in Aceh to restore public services so that residents would not have to stay for too long in shelters. "Our target is to complete the work by the end of 2017 or in 2018, because big buildings such as mosques cannot be restored within a year," BNPB chief Willem Rampangilei told journalists here on Thursday.

The government has provided Rp40 million in financial aid for houses that suffered a severe damage and Rp20 million for those which suffered slight damage. This amount is to be delivered directly to the residents. "We have sent it by name and address. We have completed the process of registering a damaged house within 14 days, and the fund would be sent directly to the bank accounts of owners," he added.

Willem expressed the hope that from now onwards, people would opt to build earthquake-resistant buildings, considering that Aceh is located along an active faultline. Meanwhile a spokesman of BNPB, Sutopo Purwo Nugroho, said Aceh has entered its 90-day transition period towards recovery. This period began on December 21 and will last till March 27, 2017.

An earthquake of magnitude 6.4 on the Richter scale had hit Pidie Jaya district in Aceh on December 7, killing 104 people. The quake's epicenter was at Samalanga-Sipopok, at a depth of 15 kilometers.

The BNPB recorded a total loss of Rp1.96 trillion, including Rp632 billion loss resulting from damaged houses and Rp630 billion from infrastructure that was destroyed. While rehabilitation and reconstruction would require Rp1.59 trillion for housing (Rp144 billion), infrastructure would require Rp788 billion, economic development Rp90 billion, social and culture Rp528 billion, and other sectors Rp36 billion.

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