JABARONLINE.COM - As of the 28th day following the hydrological disaster that struck Aceh and several regions of Sumatra, thousands of affected residents remain living under inadequate conditions. This situation demonstrates a serious failure of the state to guarantee citizens’ basic rights to safety, protection, and a healthy environment, Tuesday, 23 December 2025.
The Wakaf Forest Conservation Initiative Community assesses that these recurring disasters are not ordinary natural events, but ecosystem disasters arising from the accumulation of spatial governance failures, degradation of watershed areas (DAS), expansion of monoculture plantations and mining activities, as well as weak enforcement of environmental law.
On this basis, we urge the President of the Republic of Indonesia to immediately implement the outcomes of the Aceh Ulama Muzakarah held on 14 December 2025 at the Baiturrahman Grand Mosque, Banda Aceh, which firmly recommended:
The designation of national disaster status for the hydrological disaster in Aceh and Sumatra.
The opening of access to international assistance to accelerate humanitarian recovery.
Seriousness and objectivity from the Central Government in disaster management, not based on political calculations but on the safety of the people.
Strict law enforcement against all forms of environmental destruction proven to exacerbate disaster risks.
In a critical public discussion, a number of academics, environmental practitioners, and legal experts emphasized that this disaster had been warned about long in advance, yet the state failed to learn from experience.
Muhammad Ikhsan, S.H., M.H., Senior and Coordinator of Law and Advocacy at the Aceh Forest, Nature and Wildlife Foundation (HaKa), emphasized that political realities often turn a blind eye to scientific warnings. He noted indications of a lack of seriousness by the state, resulting in strong demands for the disaster status to be elevated to a national disaster.
