Enviro News Asia, Jakarta – The Vice Minister of Forestry, Rohmat Marzuki, attended a Coordination Meeting of the Task Force for the Acceleration of Post-Disaster Rehabilitation and Reconstruction covering Aceh, Sumatera Utara, and Sumatera Barat. The meeting was held at the Kementerian Dalam Negeri on Monday (23/2) as a follow-up to Presidential Decree No. 1 of 2025.
During the meeting, the Vice Minister outlined two primary responsibilities of the Kementerian Kehutanan within the Task Force: clearing disaster-related timber debris and facilitating land provision where required.
Regarding timber clearance, the Ministry has issued a policy enabling the utilization of driftwood to support post-disaster recovery efforts and has established an Acceleration Team for the Removal of Flood-Transported Timber across the three affected provinces. The team comprises regional governments, technical units of the Ministry, and personnel from the Indonesian National Armed Forces and National Police.
One notable operation took place along an eight-kilometer stretch of Pantai Padang in Padang, Sumatera Barat. The initiative was carried out collaboratively with the provincial government, the Padang City Government, the state-owned enterprise PT Semen Padang, and local communities. Recovered timber has been repurposed for temporary shelter construction, community needs, and industrial fuel.
Similar clearance efforts were undertaken in the Garoga watershed in Sumatera Utara, at Darul Mukhlisin Islamic Boarding School in Aceh Tamiang, and in Langkahan Subdistrict, Aceh Utara. In Langkahan, approximately one million cubic meters of timber were found across an estimated 36 hectares in five separate locations and have since been addressed.
In Geudembak Village, Langkahan Subdistrict, the Ministry provided timber for the construction of temporary shelters in cooperation with Rumah Zakat and a technical team from Universitas Gadjah Mada, particularly in construction engineering. A total of 103 temporary housing units are planned, with 66 units completed and 37 currently under construction.
Beyond timber clearance, the Ministry affirmed its readiness to facilitate land provision within forest areas if requested by the BNPB or regional governments. Temporary shelters would be accommodated through a forest area utilization approval mechanism, while permanent housing would follow a formal forest area release procedure in accordance with prevailing regulations. To date, no official proposals for forest land use for either temporary or permanent housing have been submitted.
The Ministry has also received a formal request from the Minister of Public Works seeking permission to use forest areas for timber stockpiling sites, sabo dam construction, raw water supply infrastructure, and the repair of roads and bridges crossing forest zones. These proposals will be processed in compliance with applicable legal provisions.
Concerning timber accumulation at Krueng Keuruto Dam in Aceh Utara, the Ministry stands ready to provide administrative support to ensure legal certainty regarding the designated stockpiling area for disaster-derived timber.
Through accelerated timber clearance and preparedness to facilitate land provision, the Ministry of Forestry reaffirmed its commitment to supporting swift, coordinated, and regulation-compliant recovery efforts in disaster-affected regions. (*)
