The floods and landslides in Aceh, North Sumatra, and West Sumatra have entered their 14th day (December 10, 2025). Based on data from the National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB) accessed on December 10, 2025, these Sumatran floods and landslides have impacted 52 Regencies/Cities. The death toll stands at 969 people, approximately 5 thousand people are injured, and 252 people are still missing. Other impacts include around 158 thousand damaged houses, 1.2 thousand damaged public facilities, 581 damaged educational facilities, 498 damaged bridges, 434 damaged houses of worship, 290 damaged buildings/offices, and 219 damaged health facilities.
More specifically, based on information gathered by the Aceh Provincial Government, there are 16 impacted Regencies/Cities, 225 impacted sub-districts, 1,951,429 affected people, 31 missing persons, 407 deceased persons, and 817,742 displaced persons.
Damage includes 461 road sections, 332 bridges, 266 schools, 258 offices, 207 houses of worship, 132 hospitals/community health centers, and 15 Islamic boarding schools. Additionally, there are material losses such as: 186,903 livestock, 157,318 housing units, 89,286 hectares of rice fields, 40,328 hectares of fish ponds, and 14,734 hectares of plantations.
With the death toll nearing one thousand people, displaced persons exceeding one thousand, significant material losses, a wide affected area, and damage to public facilities disrupting public services.
Given these impacts, the Central Government already has sufficient grounds to declare a national disaster emergency status for the floods and landslides in Aceh, North Sumatra, and West Sumatra. This declaration is for focused handling and maximizing the use of the unforeseen expenditure budget (BTT), and even allows for budget reallocation for handling the Sumatran floods and landslides. Furthermore, the declaration of a National Disaster Emergency enables the international community to assist the affected victims, even in the reconstruction and rehabilitation process as a fulfillment of the basic rights of the victims and affected communities.
Conversely, if the Central Government does not declare a National Disaster Emergency, it will slow down the fulfillment of the rights of the victims and affected communities. Moreover, without the declaration of a National Disaster Emergency status, the Government would require over ten years for the reconstruction and rehabilitation process of public facilities, houses, clean water, buildings, roads, bridges, and others. Considering that the fiscal condition of the affected regions makes post-disaster handling highly unlikely, especially amidst serious budget efficiency issues.
Therefore, the President of the Republic of Indonesia needs to immediately declare the major floods hitting the provinces of Aceh, North Sumatra, and West Sumatra as a National Disaster Emergency, as a form of state presence in fulfilling the basic rights of the victimized and affected communities, and to accelerate the reconstruction and rehabilitation process.
The central government should also not hesitate to open avenues for international assistance, as it aims to accelerate and facilitate post-disaster management. The damage conditions in the regions are causing victims to starve and children to lose their futures. We believe Aceh, North Sumatra, and West Sumatra are still part of the Republic of Indonesia. Therefore, given the current conditions, the President must seriously pay attention to the disaster areas and follow up with actions that meet the expectations of the victims.
