Gibran’s tour of homes, schools and a sabo dam draws praise

Vice President Gibran Rakabuming Raka’s inspection of disaster-recovery areas in North Sumatra extended beyond residents’ homes. His itinerary also included schools, Garoga Bridge and Hutanabolon Sabo Dam.

The sites represented different recovery needs, from housing and public education to transport links and protection against future disasters. Gibran made the visit on Friday, Sept. 4, accompanied by Agriculture Minister Andi Amran Sulaiman.

Dr. Wahyu Ario Pratomo, an academic at the University of North Sumatra, praised the breadth of the visit. “I believe the vice president’s itinerary, covering housing, schools, Garoga 2 Bridge and Hutanabolon Sabo Dam, shows the right approach,” Wahyu said in a written statement.

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I believe the vice president’s itinerary, covering housing, schools, Garoga 2 Bridge and Hutanabolon Sabo Dam, shows the right approach.

He said disasters do not affect only one sector. Damage to homes can occur alongside disruption to roads, schools, health facilities, economic activity and people’s sources of income. Recovery, he argued, therefore cannot proceed through isolated measures.

“The government is not enough simply to restore conditions to what they were before the disaster. The government must reduce the level of risk faced by communities from the next disaster,” Wahyu said. He called for housing, infrastructure, education, health, the economy, social protection, the environment and disaster mitigation to be handled within one regional recovery framework.

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The government is not enough simply to restore conditions to what they were before the disaster. The government must reduce the level of risk faced by communities from the next disaster.