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View all search resultsSumatra flood survivors still seek justice eight months after disaster
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Flood aftermath: A man takes pictures on December 13, 2025, as he stands on piles of uprooted trees swept away by a flash flood at Darul Mukhlisin Islamic boarding school in Aceh Tamiang, Aceh. Floods and landslides triggered by extreme weather linked to Cyclone Senyar struck three northern Sumatran provinces in late November 2025. (AFP/Yasuyoshi Chiba)
E
ight months after the Sumatra disasters, many survivors still seek justice amid reports of delayed aid distribution and slow recovery progress, while the government refutes a citizen lawsuit accusing it of poorly handling one of the country’s worst ecological disasters in years.
Cyclone-induced floods and landslides devastated large portions of Aceh, North Sumatra and West Sumatra in November last year, with at least 1,200 people killed and 166,000 others displaced across the three provinces.
Recalling the widespread destruction and casualties that took place in his hometown in Banda Aceh, Aceh, Rahmad Maulidin said many survivors had to endure days of isolation and blackout, as infrastructure was wiped out by the disaster.
He said some roads, schools and houses even have yet to receive repairs to date.
"The central government turned a blind eye when local administrations could no longer handle the disaster, which led to a widespread impact and a sluggish recovery progress," he said during a discussion hosted on Wednesday by a coalition of activist groups under the banner of the Justice for Sumatra Advocacy Team.
The coalition backs a lawsuit filed by Rahmad and a group of survivors in May with the Jakarta State Administrative Court against President Prabowo Subianto, the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB), the Environment Ministry, the Forestry Ministry and the Agrarian and Spatial Planning Ministry.
