August 2018 was a dark time in Lombok's history.

Already reeling from a 6.4-magnitude earthquake on July 29, which was followed by hundreds of smaller tremors, a devastating 6.9-magnitude earthquake struck Loloan Village in North Lombok on August 5. Hundreds more aftershocks followed including another 6.9 magnitude quake on August 19.

The accumulated devastation was enormous, but it was the August 5 quake that most believe did the most damage.

Official reports said at least 80-percent of the structures in North Lombok were either damaged or completely destroyed and around 420,000-people displaced. Around 560-people lost their lives and according to the BBC more than IDR 5-trillion (approximately USD 342-million) of damage was done.

Rotary Clubs Bali came together to provide relief and much needed support for victims of the Lombok earthquake in 2018. Image courtesy of Rotary Clubs Bali.

On-going recovery

Relief efforts were slow. Many of the communities most badly affected were in mountainous areas with limited or no access. Recovery has been a time-consuming and often painful process and is still ongoing.

Communities and social organizations in neighbouring Bali and other areas of Indonesia came together to provide much needed essentials, including makeshift tents, which provided shelter for several months as many people were too afraid to go back into houses that were clearly unsafe and likely to collapse if more tremors shook the island.

Earthquake resistant buildings

One initiative however, has a more long-term vision: to help rebuild North Lombok and revive local economies by using an affordable, earthquake resistant building material that was also easy and safe to use.

Local company PT Kumac Platpac House had an answer.

Kumac introduced a revolutionary and multi-functional building panel that allows for ultra-fast and affordable construction of houses, which are ideal for disaster-hit areas. Image courtesy of PT Kumac Platpac House.

Working together with village-owned businesses in North Lombok (an association known as BUMDES - Badan Usaha Milik Desa), Kumac introduced a revolutionary and multi-functional building panel that allows for ultra-fast and affordable construction of houses, which are ideal for disaster-hit areas.

The panels themselves use a strong composite technology that makes them earthquake proof to Richter scale 9 and F-60 fire resistant as well as having high-thermal insulation qualities.

They are durable and resistant against corrosion insects, termites and fungi - and they are environmentally friendly with a low CO2 footprint and they're 100-percent VOC free, meaning they have no volatile organic compounds.

Many of the communities most badly affected were in mountainous areas with limited or no access. Image courtesy of PT Kumac Platpac House.

Village-owned business collaboration

Collaboration with village-owned businesses is an important factor in ensuring the long-term success of the project. An agreement has been reached with PT Kumac that all of the elements, materials and manpower needed to construct houses will be coordinated from BUMDES.

Han Hanie, Director of PT. Kumac Platpac House explained to Global Hukum Indonesia "besides wanting to help accelerate rehabilitation and reconstruction in the aftermath of the earthquake, we also want to help revive the village economy."

Long-term plans and training

This is why PT Kumac are supplying their multifunctional building panels along with everything the communities need to use them best. "BUMDES will benefit from the sale of these products," said Hanie.

Training is an important aspect of the project and PT Kumac will run workshops together with the Department of Public Works. In the first stage, 100-workers from North Lombok will be trained in how to best use, construct socialize and market Kumac's earthquake resistant products, thereby empowering the local community with a sustainable future as well as providing better protection from any future natural disasters.

Sources: Global Hukum Indonesia, BBC, Gapura Bali, The Jakarta Post

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