Assistance for Inventory of Public Asset Vulnerabilities Based on Build Back Better in Simpang Kuta Buluh Village

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FORMOSA NEWS - Medan - Building Village Resilience: How Researchers Are Protecting Rural Public Assets from Flood Risks. Rural communities in flood-prone regions of Indonesia now have a proactive tool to protect vital infrastructure, thanks to a collaborative community service initiative. Published in September 2026 in the Asian Journal of Community Services, a new study details how a multidisciplinary team of Indonesian researchers assisted village officials in Simpang Kuta Buluh Village, Langkat Regency, North Sumatra, to inventory and assess public asset vulnerabilities. Led by Lasma Melinda Siahaan and Elisabet Siahaan from the University of Sumatra Utara (USU), alongside Yasir Riady from Universitas Terbuka Medan and Taufika Ophiyandri from Andalas Padang, the project addresses recurring hydrometeorological disasters by introducing a risk-based asset management approach grounded in the "Build Back Better, Safer, and Sustainable" framework. This initiative matters because it shifts rural disaster management from a reactive cleanup effort into a data-driven strategy that safeguards essential public services and optimizes local development budgets.

The urgency of this research stems from severe climate challenges facing the region. In late November 2025, catastrophic flash floods and landslides struck North Sumatra, West Sumatra, and Aceh, marking one of the worst hydrometeorological events in Sumatra over the past two decades. Situated in the downstream area of the Batang Serangan River watershed, Simpang Kuta Buluh Village experienced devastating inundations: educational facilities were submerged, major access roads were blocked by deep water for days, and river embankments failed. Historically, village public assets such as schools, village offices, and health centers were constructed based primarily on land availability and easy access rather than flood risk mapping. Consequently, these critical facilities repeatedly suffer damage during seasonal floods, wasting limited village budgets and paralyzing basic community services.

To solve this persistent problem, the research team deployed a community-based participatory approach using Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA) methods. Following an initial socialisation program on July 20, 2026, the team collaborated directly with village apparatuses, asset managers, and community leaders to conduct a comprehensive field inventory. The methodology involved four practical stages: recording asset details and flood histories, capturing precise location points using smartphone GPS, processing spatial data with QGIS software to build flood-prone map layers, and performing structured risk classifications. Every asset was evaluated using three distinct parameters exposure, vulnerability, and impact each scored on a scale from one to three to produce a total risk score between three and nine.

The assessment successfully categorized village assets into three clear risk tiers to guide future policy decisions:

• Low Risk (Scores 3–4): Assets located safely away from river channels with strong physical conditions requiring only periodic monitoring.
  
• Medium Risk (Scores 5–6): Assets situated in vulnerable zones that require regular maintenance and preventive physical reinforcement.
  
• High Risk (Scores 7–9): Assets facing high exposure, fragile structural conditions, and critical importance to public services, which are designated as top priorities for the Village Medium-Term Development Plan (RPJMDes).
  

The findings provide profound implications for local governance, rural development, and disaster mitigation. By integrating these risk-based assessments into official planning documents like the RPJMDes and Village Government Work Plans (RKPDes), Simpang Kuta Buluh Village can now pursue the "Build Back Better" principle. Instead of blindly reconstructing damaged infrastructure in hazardous locations, high-risk assets can be strategically relocated to safer elevations or structurally reinforced. Furthermore, protecting vital infrastructure directly strengthens the environmental and social resilience dimensions of Indonesia's Building Village Index (IDM). Reflecting on the collaborative effort, lead researcher Lasma Melinda Siahaan from the University of Sumatra Utara emphasized the importance of local knowledge: "The active participation of residents is the key to success, because the most accurate maps and asset data are born from local knowledge that is only owned by residents and village officials themselves." By bridging academic expertise with community participation, the project equips rural governments with operational tools to transition from reactive disaster response to long-term resilience.

Author Profiles
Lasma Melinda Siahaan, S.P., M.P. — Lecturer and Researcher at the University of Sumatra Utara (USU), specializing in resource management and community empowerment.
Dr. Elisabet Siahaan, S.E., M.Si. — Lecturer and Researcher at the Faculty of Economics and Business, University of Sumatra Utara (USU), specializing in public and strategic management.
Dr. Yasir Riady, S.Sos., M.I.Kom. — Lecturer and Researcher at Universitas Terbuka Medan, specializing in digital communication, information literacy, and educational technology.
Dr. Taufika Ophiyandri, S.T., M.T. — Lecturer and Researcher in the Department of Civil Engineering at Andalas Padang, specializing in disaster risk management and post-disaster reconstruction.

Source
Lasma Melinda Siahaan, Elisabet Siahaan, Yasir Riady, Taufika Ophiyandri. Assistance for Inventory of Public Asset Vulnerabilities Based on Build Back Better in Simpang Kuta Buluh Village. Asian Journal of Community Services (AJCS), Vol. 5, No. 9, Tahun 2026, halaman 687–696
DOI: https://doi.org/10.55927/ajcs.v5i9.73
URL : https://journalajcs.my.id/index.php/ajcs