Damaged Classrooms and Island Health Gaps Shadow Labuan Bajo’s Rebound
Labuan Bajo has reopened to visitors after the August 2026 Flores earthquake, but hundreds of damaged classrooms in Manggarai Barat and the need to evacuate serious patients by boat from Komodo Island show that recovery for residents is…
Editor: Mursyid Sonsang
· 4 min read
Labuan Bajo — Tourism in Labuan Bajo has reopened after the August 2026 Flores earthquake, but extensive damage to classrooms across Manggarai Barat and limited health facilities on Komodo Island underline how recovery for residents is still uneven.
The magnitude 7.7–7.8 earthquake struck off Flores on 15 August 2026, damaging homes, schools and public facilities in seven districts including Manggarai Barat, where Labuan Bajo serves as the main tourism gateway. According to the national education authorities, thousands of schools and tens of thousands of students and teachers on Flores were affected, with many facilities still operating in emergency conditions weeks after the quake.
Regional and national officials have repeatedly stressed the importance of restoring tourism activity in Labuan Bajo, which reported damage to hotels, airport facilities and other infrastructure but has remained accessible to visitors. However, reports from education and health sectors show that basic services for local communities are recovering more slowly than the visitor-facing parts of the economy.
Hundreds of classrooms still damaged
Teaching has resumed in Manggarai Barat, but not under normal conditions. The head of the Nusa Tenggara Timur Education and Culture Office, Ambrosius Kodo, said learning activities in affected schools were being carried out on a limited basis, with adjustments to classroom use, student numbers and teaching time to ensure safety.
Data from the provincial Education and Culture Office show that 661 classrooms in Manggarai Barat were recorded as damaged after the Flores earthquake. The breakdown provided by Kodo lists 91 classrooms as totally destroyed, 172 heavily damaged, 256 moderately damaged and 142 lightly damaged.
In a wider tally across seven districts on Flores, the same official reported more than 184 schools affected, with a total of 882 damaged classrooms still being verified. National figures from the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education indicate that thousands of education facilities and more than 287,000 students were impacted across the island, with many schools continuing lessons in temporary spaces.
Local and national agencies have provided emergency learning facilities. The Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education has prepared support for temporary classrooms, including the delivery of class tents to severely affected schools. In Manggarai Barat, authorities and community groups have built makeshift rooms with bamboo, tarpaulins and other locally available materials so that students can continue lessons while permanent buildings are assessed and repaired.
Kodo said that maintaining limited classroom activity also serves a psychosocial function for students after the earthquake and continuing aftershocks, helping them stay connected with teachers and peers while full academic routines are gradually restored.
Health access from Komodo Island
Health care access in island communities near Labuan Bajo presents another constraint on recovery. On Monday, 15 September 2026, an 85-year-old patient with severe liver disease was evacuated from Komodo Island to Labuan Bajo after initial treatment at the Komodo Community Health Center.
According to Radio Republik Indonesia (RRI), the patient was referred to Komodo Regional General Hospital in Labuan Bajo for further examination and care after several hours of observation at the primary facility on the island. The evacuation was carried out by speedboat operated by Padar Heritage Conservation, with the patient accompanied by family and health workers on the journey.
Padar Heritage Conservation spokesperson Yoanna Daely told RRI that multiple emergency patients have had to be evacuated from Komodo Island this year because local health facilities remain limited. The cases include serious conditions that require referral-level treatment, underscoring the dependence of residents and workers on sea transport for critical care.
For communities across Manggarai Barat and the surrounding islands, these education and health reports highlight the gap between the reopening of tourism and the full restoration of essential services. Visitors can once again reach Labuan Bajo and nearby destinations, but many schools are still teaching under tarpaulins or in tents, and serious medical cases on Komodo Island must be transported by boat to reach hospital care.
Sources
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