JAKARTA, Dec. 13 (Xinhua) -- Indonesia will speed up reconstruction and rehabilitation of the areas affected by earthquake and tsunami in West Nusa Tenggara (NTB) and Central Sulawesi provinces, Vice President Jusuf Kalla said here Thursday.
"We decide to accelerate the projects in all areas. In Lombok we will accelerate production of the project components, while in Palu we will quickly determine the relocation sites and construction of permanent housing for those affected in the earthquake and tsunami disasters," the vice president said during a meeting.
The permanent public housing relocation site in Central Sulawesi province will be picked among the areas already identified by the authorities, Jusuf said.
Indonesia Public Works and Housing Minister Basuki Hadimuljono who attended the meeting said that 120 units of temporary houses have already been constructed and can be used by the displaced people from Monday next week.
He added that 699 units of temporary houses are expected to be ready for the displaced people by the end of this month.
Meanwhile, for the disaster-affected people in NTB province, the minister said his ministry had planned to build some 74,000 new houses in the reconstruction projects.
He added his ministry had also planned to hire more resources to carry out the house construction projects faster.
The powerful earthquake in NTB province's Lombok island in August has displaced more than 396, 000 people who are now staying in tents amid limited supplies since early September.
The earthquake has claimed 564 lives, mostly in northern part of the island, and damaged 167,961 houses.
In Central Sulawesi province, the devastating earthquake and tsunami that occurred in late September claimed 2,245 lives in the affected cities of Palu, Donggala, Sigi and Parigi Moutong with over 1,000 ones were declared missing.
The disaster in the province have displaced 206,524 people who now also stay in tents since then.
