Diarrhea hits Gunungkidul amid drought<\/p>\n
The Jakarta Post, Yogyakarta\/Cirebon\/Bandung<\/p>\n
As many as 2,000 people in Gunungkidul regency, Yogyakarta, are
\nsuffering from diarrhea and respiratory problems due to water
\nshortages amid the prolonged dry season, health officials said on
\nWednesday.<\/p>\n
"As of yesterday (Tuesday), around 2,000 people were reported
\nto be infected by diarrhea and respiratory problems," head of the
\nGunungkidul health office Wachyudi told The Jakarta Post.<\/p>\n
He said the two diseases were closely related to the problem
\nof hygiene and shortage of clean water, and that they spread
\nduring the annual drought in Gunungkidul, one of the country's
\npoorest regencies.<\/p>\n
Speaking in the neighboring regency of Sleman on Wednesday,
\nMinister of Health Achmad Sujudi warned the public that diarrhea
\nand respiratory disease could spread during the current drought.<\/p>\n
He was quoted by the detik website as saying the government
\nwould provide medicine for the two complaints and help send
\ntrucks to supply clean water to drought-hit villages.<\/p>\n
To prevent the spread of the diseases, the Gunungkidul health
\noffice has deployed a number of physicians at community health
\ncenters (Puskesmas) across the regency, Wachyudi said.<\/p>\n
"We'll also provide education in villages on how to counter
\ndiarrhea and respiratory problems," he added.<\/p>\n
The drought has caused water shortages in most parts of
\nGunungkidul, forcing many villagers to sell their household
\nequipment for clean water. Some of them have even had to buy it
\non credit.<\/p>\n
The government has said more than 300,000 hectares of farmland
\nhave been affected by the drought across the country, and that it
\nwould distribute 20,000 tons of free rice, worth Rp 60 billion
\n(US$7.5 billion), and launch a labor-intensive program for some
\n250,000 farmers hit by drought.<\/p>\n
West Java was the worst to suffer from the drought, which
\naffected more than 203,000 hectares, or 15 percent of
\napproximately 927,000 hectares of rice field in the province.<\/p>\n
Head of the West Java agriculture office Dady Mulyadi said
\ncrop failure had affected up to 61,000 hectares, adding that the
\nnationwide figure was around Rp 90,000 hectares of farmland.<\/p>\n
The failure had caused more than Rp 52 billion in losses to
\nfarmers in West Java, he said.<\/p>\n
Dady said the drought threatened around 2,034 farmers with
\nfood shortages in several parts of the province -- Cirebon,
\nIndramayu, Subang, Majalengka, Bandung, Ciamis and Cianjur.
\nCianjur is known as one of the largest rice producers for West
\nJava and Jakarta.<\/p>\n
He said West Java, which contributes 24 percent of the
\nnation's rice supplies, targeted 9.4 million tons of rice this
\nyear.<\/p>\n
"However, the target will not be achieved because the farmland
\nhit by crop failure should potentially have produced more than
\n300,000 tons of unhusked rice," Dady added.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, the Cirebon and Indramyu administrations urged the
\ncentral government to help address the serious impact of the
\ndrought in their regions.<\/p>\n
"We don't have the capability to shoulder alone the burden of
\nlocal people affected by the drought. We badly need help from the
\ncentral and provincial governments," Indramayu Regent M.S.
\nSyafiuddin said.<\/p>\n
A similar complaint was raised by deputy Cirebon Regent Dedu
\nSupardi, who said the central government should be more
\nresponsive in coping with the problems caused by the drought.<\/p>\n
Cirebon agriculture office head Sathori Djuhaeri said crop
\nfailure had caused suffering to at least 31,533 farmers in the
\ncity, adding that the worst-hit area was Kapetakan subdistrict,
\nwhere all 2,739 hectares of farmland had failed to produce a
\nharvest.<\/p>\n
In West Java, the drought spread to more than 20 regencies,
\naffecting 19,000 hectares of farmland.<\/p>\n
Senior official at the East Java agriculture office Suwardoyo
\nEndro Sutopo said on Wednesday the affected regencies were
\nBangkalan, Sampang, Sumenep, Pasuruan, Probolinggo, Situbondo,
\nBondowoso, Madiun, Magetan, Ngawi, Ponorogo, Pacitan,
\nBanyuwangi, Gresik, Sidoarjo, Mojokerto, Jombang, Kediri,
\nBlitar, Trenggalek, Bojonegoro, Lamongan and Tuban.<\/p>\n
He said the drought had been made worse by a lack of water
\nsources near the affected farmland and serious deforestation,
\nblamed on illegal logging and land clearance.<\/p>",
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