Cianjur, West Java – The Public Works and Public Housing Ministry suggested that houses or buildings having Certificate of Proper Function can be insured against natural disasters.
“This is what I will encourage onwards actually, so that buildings that are already certified can be insured,” Director General of Housing at the Ministry of Public Works and Public Housing Iwan Suprijanto said here on Sunday.
For example, in case of earthquake, a house worth Rp. 500 million was badly damaged; should it be insured, then once it was damaged by disaster, it would be categorized as force majeure.
“This is where the real part of insurance is: to replace the value of the house that is mortgaged,” he remarked.
For other houses which were not covered like that, government assistance was given.
President Joko Widodo had said that he had decided to increase the amount of aid for heavily, medium, and lightly damaged houses.
The aid prepared for heavily damaged houses was Rp. 50 million, Rp. 25 million for moderately- damaged ones, and Rp. 10 million for lightly-damaged ones.
However, after recalculating and asking the Finance Ministry for the budget, President Jokowi decided to increase the assistance; now, for heavily damaged houses to Rp60 million, Rp30 million for moderately-damaged houses, and Rp15 million for lightly-damaged ones.
The President also emphasized that gauging the damage to earthquake victims’ houses in Cianjur, West Java, was done by the ministry. Once they have determined the rate of damage, people cannot protest.
Jokowi also urged people who received the assistance to use the aid money to actually rebuild their homes so that they no longer live in tents or evacuation posts, instead of buying other things like vehicles.
Source: Antara News