PRESIDENT PRABOWO TO WELCOME 2026 WITH FLOOD SURVIVORS IN ACEH

JAKARTA, Dec 31 (Bernama-ANTARA) -- Indonesia’s President Prabowo Subianto will welcome the start of 2026 on Wednesday with residents displaced by floods and landslides in Aceh, said Chief of the Presidential Staff Office (KSP) Muhammad Qodari, reported ANTARA news agency.

"The President will visit Aceh and, God willing, spend New Year's Eve with the people in Aceh," Qodari said after meeting Prabowo at the Jakarta Presidential Palace on Tuesday.

Qodari did not disclose Prabowo's detailed agenda in Aceh but confirmed that Bener Meriah District will be among the destinations during the visit.

On the same occasion, he said disaster rehabilitation efforts in several regions would not hamper the implementation of President Prabowo's priority programmes in 2026, as the government has adopted budget-saving measures.

He added that the government has tapped other funding sources, mainly from law enforcement activities, to finance the priority programmes.

"We can utilise funds secured from palm plantation management, anti-smuggling efforts, and the mining sector," Qodari said.

According to Qodari, the measures are intended to maintain the financial sustainability of priority programmes despite the need to finance disaster relief efforts.

Devastating floods and landslides struck Aceh, North Sumatra, and West Sumatra in late November 2025 following heavy rainfall.

Data from the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) show that as of December 31, the death toll from the disasters in the three provinces had reached 1,141, including 514 fatalities in Aceh.

--BERNAMA-ANTARA