Palu Housing Reconstruction Process: Reviewing and Learning after the 2018 Earthquake

Abstract

The strong earthquake that hit the Province of Central Sulawesi on 28 September 2018 (M7.4), followed by tsunami and liquefaction has caused many casualties, injuries as well as damages in the housing sector. In the rehabilitation and reconstruction (R&R) program, the Government policy was to provide the affected community with aid to rebuild their houses (for houses outside the red zone), the Government also will build new settlements for relocation (for houses inside the red zone), which both are expected to be more earthquake-resistant. In order to understand what happens in the field related to various issues, an investigation to study the whole processes and to document the lessons learnt from the reconstruction process is conducted in Central Sulawesi Province. One of the highlights of this study is the impact of the three types of disasters that occurred in Palu Municipality (earthquake, tsunami, and liquefaction) on the housing reconstruction process after the disaster occurred. The primary field survey and Focus Group Discussion were conducted through interviews with various parties in the earthquake-affected areas to reveal the findings of problems and obstacles in the field during its two years of implementation, from 2018 to 2020. This study focuses on reviewing and learning from the post-disaster housing sector reconstruction process. The result of this study is expected to provide future lessons for the post-disaster housing reconstruction process in Indonesia and other countries.

Typology of post-disaster relief houses in Palu and Sigi, Central Sulawesi

“…Limited fund was also an issue especially the responsibility of the reconstruction is under the local government [19]. While technically, lack of material and construction workers was found too [1]. Based on the regulation, each house constructed by the government or non-government should follow with the budget of IDR 50 million per house for heavy damage, IDR 25 million for moderate damage, and IDR 10 million for minor damage [20].…”

“…Government policy in housing sector reconstruction is to build earthquake resistant house [1]. The central government through Directorate General of Housing under the Ministry of Public Works and Housing (PUPR) has created an earthquake resistant house named Healthy Simple Instant Home (Rumah Instan Sederhana Sehat) or "RISHA".…”

“…RISHA is a knock down construction technology invention that can be built quickly (hence it is called instant technology), using reinforced concrete as its main structure [21]. For the rehabilitation and reconstruction in Central Sulawesi, relief houses funded by the government are compulsory to build RISHA [1].…”

“…The disaster that happened in Central Sulawesi was a complex phenomenon with four types of disaster almost in the same time: earthquake, tsunami, landslide, and devastating liquefaction period. On September 28 2018, most of the area of Palu Municipality, the capital of Central Sulawesi Province, along with the surrounding regencies, namely Sigi, Donggala, and Parigi Moutong Regencies around Palu Bay, were devastated by the earthquake, tsunami, liquefaction [1,2] and triggered landslide [3]. The risk of Palu City and its surroundings to earthquakes and tsunamis is already known based on the geological characteristics of the area.…”

The Analysis of Understanding in Seismic – Resilient Infrastructure Planning in Vocational Student’s Civil Engineering

“…Natural hazards such as earthquakes cause significant damage to infrastructure systems made the local knowledge in buildings and infrastructures that are constructed to endure seismic activity. [2] [3].The Liquefaction is a common form of damage caused Vocational Student's Civil Engineering by earthquakes [4]. The Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI) and the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) state that five factors can influence disaster preparedness.…”