Japan assisting reconstruction efforts in Sulawesi 5 years after deadly quake

Thursday marks five years since a powerful earthquake struck the Indonesian island of Sulawesi, causing severe devastation and taking away thousands of lives. Five years on, the island is rebuilding its infrastructure with comprehensive assistance from Japan, based on knowledge acquired through restoring the country's northeastern region, which suffered a quake and tsunami disaster in March 2011.

On Tuesday, officials from the Japan International Cooperation Agency-JICA, overseeing the reconstruction efforts, visited a site along the Palu coast where road construction is ongoing. The road, which will be elevated by about 5 meters, is expected to reduce inundation by tsunami.

Fukushima Junichi, the Jakarta office head of Japanese construction consultant firm Yachiyo Engineering, has been involved in the reconstruction efforts in the island since immediately after the disaster. The jolt that struck central Sulawesi on September 28, 2018, brought extensive damage to coastal areas and triggered widespread soil liquefaction, which, in turn, buried residences in mud. The disaster claimed about 4,300 lives.