Indonesia to relocate quake victims

This photo taken on Nov. 27, 2022 shows houses damaged in a 5.6-magnitude earthquake in Sukamulya village of Cianjur, West Java, Indonesia. (Photo by Septianjar Muharam/Xinhua)

JAKARTA, Nov. 27 (Xinhua) -- The Indonesian government plans to rebuild hundreds of houses in a new safer ground for the victims of the quake striking the country's West Java province, the chief of the country's disaster agency said Sunday.

Head of the National Disaster Management and Mitigation Agency Suharyanto told a press conference that the construction of new houses would start next week on a two-hectare land, carried out by the ministry of public works and public housing.

Volunteers deliver aid for villagers after a 5.6-magnitude earthquake in Cianjur, West Java, Indonesia, Nov. 27, 2022. (Photo by Septianjar Muharam/Xinhua)

The relocation would prioritize the victims whose houses were seriously destroyed by the tremors and located in areas prohibited by the country's meteorology, climatology and geophysics agency from rebuilding, said Suharyanto.

A total of 200 units of houses would be rebuilt in the new location, Herman Suherman, head of Cianjur district administration told the press conference.

For the houses that have been severely damaged but are still eligible to be rebuilt in their original location, Suharyanto said that the government would provide financial assistance of up to 50 million rupiahs (3,186 U.S. dollars) for reconstruction.

Rescuers work on the ruins after a 5.6-magnitude earthquake in Sukamulya village of Cianjur, West Java, Indonesia, Nov. 27, 2022. (Photo by Septianjar Muharam/Xinhua)

The government would provide 25 million rupiahs to the quake victims whose houses were moderately damaged by the tremors and 10 million rupiahs to those whose houses got minor damages, according to Suharyanto.

As of Sunday, the death toll of the quake hitting West Java on Monday rose to 321 and 11 others were missing with 73,874 people displaced. The quake also destroyed 62,628 houses, Suharyanto said.