President Orders Reconstruction of Collapsed Mosques in Quake-Hit Aceh

Accompanied by Health Minister Nila Moeloek (R), President Joko Widodo visits an earthquake victim at Dr. Zainoel Abidin Hospital in Banda Aceh on Thursday evening..

Pidie Jaya, 09 Rabi’ul Awwal 1438/09 December 2016 (MINA) – President Joko Widodo, popularly known as Jokowi, has ordered the reconstruction of the few mosques destroyed in the magnitude-6.5 earthquake that rocked Aceh Province on Wednesday (Dec 7).

“I have seen the condition of the mosque and have decided that it will be rebuilt jointly, starting tomorrow,” Antara News quoted Jokowi as saying after visiting At Taurrub Mosque in Trienggadeng Sub-district, here, Friday.

The At Taurrub Mosque was seriously damaged in the earthquake that also claimed 103 lives and injured some eight thousand others.

A number of children greeted the president by singing the song “Who Owns Jokowi,” led by Kak Seto Mulyadi, a prominent activist for the protection of children, in the front yard of the mosque.

The Social Affairs Ministry has set up an emergency response command post in the yard.

Children should be kept happy and singing, the president stressed.

In Pidie Jaya alone, of the existing 71 mosques, 29 were seriously damaged and 28 others slightly damaged in the natural disaster.

The damaged mosques were located in the sub-districts of Meureudu, Meurah Dua, Bandar Dua, Pante Raja Trienggadeng, Samalaga, Alee Glee, and Jangka Buya.

A total of 103 deaths have been confirmed from the 6.5-magnitude earthquake that rocked several districts in Aceh Province.

Some 8 thousand inhabitants were seriously or slightly injured in the disaster, and they were evacuated to receive medical treatment.

The victims are residents of the sub-districts of Pante Raja, Bandar Dua, Tringgadeng, Meureudu, Bandar Baru, and Alee Glee.

The earthquake, which destroyed several houses, school buildings, and places of worship, occurred at 5:03 a.m. local time on Wednesday, with its epicenter at 5.19 degrees northern latitude and 96.36 degrees eastern longitude, at a depth of 10 kilometers on land, some 18 km northeast of Pidie Jaya, or 120 km of Banda Aceh, the capital of Aceh Province. (T/R07/R01)

Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA)