REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, PALU -- Vice President Jusuf Kalla said here on Friday that lots of workers would be needed for rehabilitation and reconstruction in Central Sulawesi following recent earthquake and tsunami. Workers will be needed as drivers or for reconstruction or rehabilitation of houses or infrastructure development, he said during a flight to the region.

Due to the difficulty of finding workers in the affected areas, many would be sent in from outside the region, Kalla said. He said during emergency respond period around 100 drivers were needed to operate vehicles to carry logistics and dumptrucks to clean up and others. Due to the shortage of local workforce more workers would be sent in from Surabaya, he said.

On relocation plans, Kalla said thousands of houses would be built. It would not be like in Aceh after tsunami where around 120,000 houses had to be built.

Vice President Jusuf Kalla (center) accompanied UN Secretary General Antonio Gutteres (right) and World Bank CEO Kristalina Georgiva (left) when visiting Balaroa, Palu Central Sulawesi that was hit by earthquake and liquefaction, Friday (Oct 12).

He said the earthquake in Aceh was recorded at 9.3 on the Richter Scale while in Palu at 7.4 on the Richter Scale while the tsunami in Aceh rose up to 20 meter high and flowed up to 10 kilometer ashore. The tsunami in Palu was only two to three meter high and reached a distance of one to two kilometers away, he said.

Kalla said reconstruction and rehabilitation in Central Sulawesi would use the combination of methods used in Aceh and Yogyakarta. Some would be carried out by contractors while others by the people themselves using government funds.

"Relocation would be carried out by contractors but repair of houses that are not affected by tsunami would be done by the people themselves," he said.

Kalla estimated US$600 to US$700 million would be needed for the reconstruction in Central Sulawesi.

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