Jakarta – Speaker of the Indonesian House of Representatives, Puan Maharani, believes that the Government is carefully considering determining the status of a national disaster for floods and landslides in the Aceh and Sumatra regions. He said the DPR and the government continued to receive input on developments in this disaster. In addition, Puan said that President Prabowo Subianto visited the disaster site directly. According to him, the Government obviously knows very well the decisions that will be taken regarding the determination of national disaster status for the affected areas, namely Aceh, North Sumatra and West Sumatra. Puan expressed this today while at the Parliament Complex, Senayan, Jakarta. Scroll to continue content “The government and DPR have obviously both listened to input from various parties, especially input from affected regional governments. Is there a need to immediately declare a national disaster? The President even immediately inspected the affected areas,” Puan said in a written statement, Wednesday (3/12/2025). “However, in order to be able to decide on this matter immediately, the government must of course take careful consideration and we are also following all input regarding this matter,” he continued. It is known that on Monday (1/12) President Prabowo Subianto directly inspected the areas affected by floods and landslides in North Sumatra, Aceh and West Sumatra. The President directly inspected evacuation posts, locations of damaged infrastructure and spoke with thousands of affected residents to ensure emergency response was swift and on target. During a review of a number of disaster areas, President Prabowo ordered the acceleration of the distribution of logistical aid, the restoration of access to isolated areas, as well as the construction of emergency access at damaged key infrastructure locations. The government has also deployed air and sea navies to reach difficult areas. In his statement to the media team after inspecting the refugee post in Padang Pariaman, President Prabowo relayed the latest developments on field conditions which he said showed significant improvement. Apart from West Sumatra, the president also visited other affected areas in Aceh and North Sumatra. During each visit, the Head of State ensures the distribution of logistical assistance, health services and air transport support to areas that cannot yet be fully reached per country. Regarding the condition of a number of areas that are still isolated, President Prabowo emphasized that air access is still the main step to reach people in these affected points. Most recently, flood conditions in Serdang Bedagai (Sergai) Regency, North Sumatra, are now said to be showing recovery. Chief Executive (Kalak) of the Sergai Regional Disaster Management Agency (BPBD), Abdul Rahman Purba, explained on Wednesday (3/12) that based on a quick assessment in the field of conditions after the flood disaster that hit 11 sub-districts, the water in nine sub-districts had receded and the situation was gradually recovering. On this, Puan said that the DPR will continue to monitor all the latest developments in the situation in disaster areas. He said that the DPR will continue to communicate with the government to then decide on the best steps in dealing with disasters in the 3 provinces. “So, God willing, between the government and the DPR, we will always communicate to work together to find the best way to quickly resolve this disaster,” concluded Puan. (acn/ega)