by Cundoko Aprilianto, Jiang Yaping

    JAKARTA, Oct. 6 (Xinhua) -- Road restoration should be prioritized in Indonesia's West Sumatra for economic recovery after it was hit by a 7.6-magnitude earthquake last Wednesday as the province is the main connector to other provinces in Sumatra Island, economists told Xinhua on Tuesday.

    "Although West Sumatra's regional gross domestic product only contribute 1.6 percent nationally, we must not forget that roads in the province connect to other provinces, like Jambi and Riau aspart of Trans Sumatra strip. So, I think the infrastructure should be fixed first," said Hendri Saparini, an economist from Indonesia Bangkit, a prominent economic research institution.

    However, she said that the government may have to use state budget to fix the infrastructure as private investors are possibly reluctant to participate given the small and slow return.

    The Public Work' director for technical and road infrastructure, Danis Sumadilaga, shared the opinion of Hendri, saying the most important thing to do is to return the road function to facilitate the transportation in the quake-devastated areas.

    "Currently, we are still in the two month-emergency response period. So, what we have been doing now is to return function of roads for transportation. We removed soil and rocks from roads, we covered holes and cracks. In short, we are trying to prevent roads' condition from getting worse," said Danis.

    However, Danis declined to comment on the amount needed for road restoration.

    "We haven't yet thought about it. It's too early to talk about that," he added.

    Previously, Indonesian Social Minister Bachtiar Chamsyah admitted that not all aid for survivors could are distributed due to transportation obstacle.

    "I know the roads condition. They are narrow and damaged, so we have to use smaller cars," said Bachtiar, adding that he had ordered the province's Governor Gamawan Fauzi to provide such cars.

    Local offocials in Padang, the capital of West Sumatra province, said more than 30 kilometers of roads have been severely damaged with five bridges collapsing.

    Hendri also said the government should step up restoration to other infrastructure, like electricity and telecommunications, to revive the economy.

    Meanwhile, she stressed that the central and provincial governments should prioritize efforts to provide residence for survivors.

    Providing residence is one of the most important efforts at the moment, she said.

    Suprayoga Hadi, director of the National Development Planning Agency for special territories and underdeveloped areas said the government should oblige developers to build earthquake-resistance building in quake-prone regions.

    He said building quake-resist houses in the future was very important to prevent the worst scenario.

    "We have implemented the requirement in Yogyakarta province that has been hit again by earthquake several months ago. It proved that no building collapsed during that quake," he said.

    On May 27, 2006, the province was hit by a jolt of 5.9 on Richter scale that destroyed houses and killed hundreds of people.

    It is reported that quake-resistance building would be included in a blueprint that would be drafted by the National Development Planning Agency.