DOW Indonesia Supports Habitat Rebuild West Sulawesi after the Earthquake
Three big earthquakes hit West Sulawesi in early 2021. Those three districts were Mamuju, Majene, and Polewali Mandar. At least around 6.213 were impacted, 107 were dead, 278 were heavily injured, and 240 were moderately and lightly injured. In addition to taking lives, this powerful earthquake was also capable of destroying residents’ settlements. There were around 15,522 houses that were damaged, about 11,423 in Mamuju and the rest in Majene, approximately 4,099 houses. Apart from residential areas, these earthquakes also destroyed 22 schools in Mamuju and 79 schools in Majene.
Habitat Indonesia, accompanied by the government and other humanitarian organizations, decided to rebuild Botteng Village and Karampuang Village in Mamuju, West Sulawesi, because earthquakes frequently hit them. Karampuang itself is a remote village that can be reached only by boat for 20 minutes from the Mamuju fish port market.
The financial support of more than 300 million from DOW Indonesia immensely helped Habitat Indonesia carry out its mission. It succeeded in helping earthquake-affected families in Botteng Village and Karampuang Village by repairing five houses using the Ferro cement technique and five toilets in Botteng Village. DOW and Habitat also distributed cleaning kits to 100 families in Botteng Village, provided disaster risk management training to 55 families in Karampuang, and construction training to local families and workers in Botteng Village.The village office established a village-level disaster risk reduction forum and distributed training on signs of disaster evacuation.
Muhammad Anwar, Head of Dusun Karampuang, said, “We are fortunate that DOW and Habitat Indonesia came to Karampuang Village and provided humanitarian assistance and disaster relief so that we have another safe house to live. Just as the pinnacle of love arrives, we are very enthusiastic about the renovation of our office. Only one-week Habitat completed repairs. They planed the work well. Now we have more space to use. Thanks to Habitat Indonesia and DOW Indonesia for this work. We will provide our best service for residents here.”
Amril, a traveling fish trader (27), buys fish from fish collectors and sells it to customers every morning, while his wife Jira (22) sells fruit on the side of the road not far from where they live. When the earthquake struck, Amri immediately got up and called and hugged his son Tifan (4) and left the house while his wife followed behind. When they were outside their home, they immediately looked for a place to evacuate because it was raining and the electricity went out. They also saw other people flocking and looking desperate.
“In the refugee camps, it is tough for us to get food and basic needs. We chose to return home after conditions began to improve even though our house was still tilted, not stable, and not yet safe. We pray to God we will be able to repair our house soon. We are glad that Habitat and DOW chose our family to receive home improvement assistance. We thank Habitat and DOW for repairing our home. If Habitat didn’t repair our house, we wouldn’t know how to get the money to repair our house. We are very grateful, said Amril.”