The Jakarta Post

Sahria Lelu and her family were still living in a tent outside a mosque six weeks after a powerful earthquake that killed dozens in East Nusa Tenggara (NTT), demonstrating the hard road home for thousands of survivors.

The 7.7-magnitude quake near Flores island on August 15 damaged tens of thousands of homes and left the water supply in limbo on one small island, but it has also been followed by roughly 15,000 aftershocks.

"What prevents us to go back home is that we are still traumatized, very traumatized," said the 38-year-old resident of the Nagekeo district, one of the disaster-affected areas.

#Archipelago story by AFP.

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1 day ago | [YT] | 8

The Jakarta Post

Finance Minister Suahasil Nazara said there would be no additional allocation for free state schools, with the government instead reviewing how the existing education budget is distributed among the central and regional governments, ministries and agencies.

Story by Maretha Uli.

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#5W1H

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5 days ago | [YT] | 9

The Jakarta Post

Indonesia’s rising public anger reflects deeper structural pressures, from elite impunity to digital manipulation, eroding trust in democratic institutions.

#Opinion by Juneman Abraham.

Illustrated by Aldi.

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6 days ago | [YT] | 24

The Jakarta Post

Often situated in semipermanent buildings with inadequate cooling facilities, informal learning spaces often suffer more than conventional classrooms during hot weather, hindering the learning process of poor children who need them the most.

#Jakarta story by Miriam Bahagijo.

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1 week ago | [YT] | 10

The Jakarta Post

The East Java administration is stepping up preparations for a worsening drought across the province as crop failures mount and the risk of wildfires grows.

The prolonged dry spell is putting growing pressure on farmers, many of whom are struggling to secure enough water for their crops.

Ahmad Reza, who plants bananas and corn around the Karangkates Dam in Pagak village, Malang regency, said he has been forced to pump water from the reservoir to save his farmland from the drought.

The falling water level has raised fears that agriculture in southern Malang could grind to a halt if rain does not come soon.

“There have been no rains in the past three months. We hope rain will come down soon,” he said recently.

#Archipelago story by Wahyoe Boediwardhana.

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1 week ago | [YT] | 18

The Jakarta Post

Indonesia is seeing a worrying rise in suicides as more people seek help for mental distress, but limited access to professional mental health services is leaving the country struggling to meet growing demand for support.

#Society story by Maretha Uli.

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2 weeks ago | [YT] | 26

The Jakarta Post

The dry season has returned to Central Kalimantan, Indonesia’s largest province, covering 15.3 million hectares, including more than 4.6 million hectares of peatland.

Hot, dry weather increases the risk of forest and land fires, while strong winds can quickly spread the flames.

The Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) predicts the peak of El Niño will occur between August and September 2026.

By August 22, fires had burned 4,729.25 hectares across 1,686 incidents, according to the Regional Disaster Management and Fire Department (BPBPK).

When hotspots and thick smoke appear, firefighters and volunteers rush to the affected areas. They battle intense flames and heavy smoke while clearing dense vegetation to reach the fire front. When water supplies run low, crews sometimes have to drill new wells.

Fires become even harder to control on peatland. Flames can spread beneath the surface and smolder deep inside the peat, making them difficult to detect and extinguish. Even after crews put out surface fires, underground embers can reignite. Teams spray water around vegetation and create barriers to slow the spread, sometimes working late into the night.

BPBPK chief Ahmad Toyib said authorities have deployed personnel on the ground and in the air. Some 10,700 personnel from BPBD, Manggala Agni, the Forestry Agency, the military, police and volunteers are involved in the operation.

Four helicopters conduct water-bombing missions, while another helicopter patrols for fire hotspots. A Cessna aircraft also carries out weather modification operations by dispersing sodium chloride to increase the chance of rain.

The fight demands enormous time, manpower, equipment and coordination. Yet authorities and volunteers continue working to extinguish the flames, clear the smoke and protect communities from the threat of wildfires.

Story and photos by ANTARA/Auliya Rahman.

#Portraits

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2 weeks ago | [YT] | 10

The Jakarta Post

Tasked to enforce local regulations, the city’s public order agenc currently has only 5,000 personnel, less than the 12,000 needed to launch round-the-clock patrols across the capital city.

#Jakarta story by Yvette Tanamal.

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2 weeks ago | [YT] | 7

The Jakarta Post

While Indonesia is making massive investments in the downstream sector, upstream reforms regarding waste collection, financing and management must align with that ambition.

#Opinion by Fazlur Rahman Hassan.

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2 weeks ago | [YT] | 5

The Jakarta Post

Communities in many parts of the country are facing worsening water shortages as a strengthening El Niño brings prolonged dry conditions, putting residents at risk.

People have been forced to buy water from mobile vendors after their wells ran dry or became increasingly turbid following four months without rain. Some people have turned to local rivers to wash their clothes as water supplies run low.

But the rivers are also drying up, with sluggish flow and only stagnant pools remaining among rocks and patches of mud.

Others have resorted to repeatedly filtering turbid well water for bathing and washing kitchen utensils.

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3 weeks ago | [YT] | 12