About 700 Houses in West Sumatra at Risk of Coastal Abrasion Disasters

TheIndonesia.id - Local official has revealed that up to 700 houses in Nagari Tiku Lima Jorong, Agam regency, West Sumatra, are facing the risk of coastal abrasion disasters as the area still lacks of wave breakers that can protect residents from tidal waves.

Tiku Lima Jorong’s regional secretary Anaswar said hundreds of houses within the area are at risk from coastal abrasion which is one of the major natural disasters that has been happening for years.

According to him, about 400 houses are located in Muaro Putih while about 300 units are in Masang.

“The [current] residential area in Muaro Putih is the second one [built by locals] because decades ago, their village was completely wiped out by abrasion,” Anaswar revealed.

He added that, previously, houses in Muaro Putih were located about 1.5 kilometers away from the beach. However, due to continuous abrasion, they are now merely 300 to 400 meters away from beach.

“From 2021 to August 2, 2022, about 50 meters of land have been eroded by waves,” he said.

In addition to houses and buildings being at great risk of disasters, Anaswar said waves also destroyed coconut and palm plantations owned by residents as well as boats owned by local fishermen.

The local official also revealed that members of the public has been requesting for wave breakers to be installed to reduce the intensity of wave, but the demand has yet to be granted.

“We’ve submitted five proposals, but there has been no response,” Anaswar said.

Tidal wave is a major concern among the people in Nagari Tiku Lima Jorong as it has been occurring more frequently in the last few weeks.

In the past week alone, it was reported that 15 meters of land have been eroded.