The 2018 Sulawesi Earthquake devastated central Sulawesi island, killing thousands and leaving many more homeless following tsunamis, mudslides, and soil liquefaction. The reduction in housing supply and functioning public facilities has resulted in a massive population of displaced persons in refugee camps with limited access to basic services.
The World Bank sees the Central Sulawesi Rehabilitation and Reconstruction Project (CSRRP), implemented by the Indonesia Ministry of Public Works and Housing, as critical to helping those displaced by the earthquake and preventing similar devastation and loss of life in future natural disasters. According to project documents, the project’s goal is to produce 8,000 units of housing for displaced persons, designed to withstand future earthquakes and other natural disasters. Additionally, the Bank is engaged in similar reconstruction efforts for public facilities as well as rehabilitating those facilities that were not destroyed.
Since January 2020, BIC and partners based in Palu, Central Sulawesi, have monitored this project. Some of the key findings and recommendations from the monitoring were regarding significant delays in housing construction, deterioration of camps that Disaster Affected Persons (DAPs) were living in, lack of communication and consultations between various stakeholders, including implementation agencies, civil society, DAPs and the World Bank. These issues remain to date, and BIC is supporting partners in Palu in continuing their monitoring work.
Our monitoring and advocacy continues to focus on the remaining housing reconstruction under World Bank funding and the reconstruction of public facilities that will incorporate universal accessibility in the building designs.
While COVID-19 and land acquisition have delayed much of the construction progress, causing frustration among DAPs, a cause for concern is the lack of communication and information disclosure. Through consultations with project-affected communities with regard to their housing and livelihood and monitoring the well-being of those still living in camps, we have found that the state of the camps has deteriorated significantly, as people were not meant to be housed in them for so long. This has affected people’s quality of life, livelihood and children’s access to education.
The new housing is still under construction in some areas, and the schedule for delivery of completed housing remains unclear. Those who have received new housing have reported that some amenities, like grid access or access to public transport, are not yet complete. Some of the new housing will be located some distance away from people’s original locations due to the quality of the soil and the scarcity of urban land. This, too, will have significant livelihood implications because many affected persons will be unable to continue their occupations or will need to be trained to perform other livelihoods.
The World Bank must update existing frameworks, monitoring, and assessment tools to reflect the learnings from delays in post-disaster reconstruction and recovery to guide implementing agencies and Bank staff on effectively dealing with prolonged delays.
Building back better through permanent housing and improved infrastructure should not be the only objective of post-disaster reconstruction. It must also prioritize the well-being and quality of life of affected communities throughout the construction period, building in contingencies to provide this through delays and other unexpected events that may occur.
Timely information disclosure of project documents is vital for communities and civil society to access information they may not otherwise easily receive from implementing partners. Awareness material for communities must also include information on how to access project documents, GRMs, and the Inspection Panel. These documents must be disclosed in simplified, non-technical language, in local languages, and in accessible formats for persons with disabilities. They should also be available in a public space, such as a community center, and not rely on communities having to download and print documents themselves.
