Sikka Prepares Rp20 Billion Presidential Grant Allocation for Earthquake Recovery

Maumere — Sikka regency is preparing to allocate a Rp20 billion presidential grant across local government agencies to support recovery from the August 2026 Flores earthquake, with the largest share proposed for housing, according to local officials and media reports.

The funding forms part of a Rp200 billion presidential community assistance programme for quake-affected areas in East Nusa Tenggara, which provides Rp40 billion to the provincial government and Rp20 billion to each of eight regencies on Flores, including Sikka, according to statements from national officials reported by several Indonesian outlets.

Sikka’s grant enters the regency’s contingency budget and is earmarked for damaged homes, social assistance, logistics, education and other basic needs during the shift from emergency response to recovery, according to regional secretary and disaster task force chief Femy Bapa, cited by Florespedia.id.

Planned allocations

Bapa said the distribution is being prepared in line with guidance from the Ministry of Home Affairs and reflects the extent of housing damage recorded in the regency, Florespedia.id reported.

She told Florespedia.id that a second phase of damage registration had recorded nearly 9,000 damaged homes in Sikka. Based on the first verification and validation phase, about 60% to 70% of registered homes had damage below 20%, according to her account.

Bapa said the National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB) is focusing on houses with damage of 20% and above, including moderate and severe categories, while the regency government plans to concentrate its own assistance on homes with damage assessed at around 10% to 20%, Florespedia.id reported.

According to Florespedia.id’s 16 September report, proposed figures discussed so far include:

• Housing Office: about Rp6 billion
• Social Affairs Office: about Rp3 billion
• Regional Disaster Management Agency: about Rp2.5 billion
• Education, Youth and Sports Office: about Rp1.7 billion
• Remaining funds to be allocated to other agencies or contingency needs

The report noted that the full breakdown across all eight agencies and the final budget document had not yet been completed at the time of publication.

Emergency transition and contingency spending

Bapa said the Rp20 billion presidential assistance is not intended to be spent immediately or outside standard government procedures. After the emergency-response period, the grant must be integrated into programmes and activities managed by the relevant offices under the revised regional budget (APBD Perubahan), according to Florespedia.id.

Florespedia.id reported that Sikka has also drawn on its contingency budget (Belanja Tidak Terduga, or BTT) for disaster response. Initial spending from the presidential grant and existing contingency funds was around Rp300 million, followed by a proposed second-stage use of about Rp1.9 billion. The outlet cited local officials as saying total use was later described as more than Rp2.3 billion but under Rp2.4 billion.

According to Florespedia.id, Bapa emphasised that implementation of the new programmes funded by the grant would take place after the revised APBD is formally approved.

Media reports on the broader Flores response state that Sikka moved from an emergency-response phase into an emergency-to-recovery transition period after mid-September 2026, in line with national disaster management evaluations. During this period, the Ministry of Home Affairs and BNPB have been monitoring how regencies use the presidential assistance and reviewing progress on a regular basis.

Sources

• IDN Times
• Bloomberg Technoz
• Akurat.co (NTT section)
• Florespedia.id