Dry season to start next month: BMG<\/p>\n
A. Junaidi, Jakarta<\/p>\n
The Meteorology and Geophysics Agency (BMG) announced on Friday
\nthat the dry season would start next month and peak in August,
\ncausing drought in many parts of the country.<\/p>\n
\"We predict that the dry season will last for three months,\"
\nBMG head Gunawan Ibrahim said at a press conference here on
\nFriday.<\/p>\n
Gunawan said this year's drought would not be as severe as
\nlast year's since the El Nino phenomenon would not take place
\nthis year.<\/p>\n
According to Gunawan, drought would hit many parts of East
\nJava and some parts of Central Java, West Java, Aceh, South
\nSumatra, Lampung Bali, West Nusa Tenggara, East Nusa Tenggara,
\nEast Kalimantan, South Sulawesi and southeastern Maluku.<\/p>\n
He revealed that the worst drought could be expected in the
\nregencies of Jember and Bangkalan in East Java, Tangerang in
\nBanten, Bekasi in West Java, Gunung Kidul in Yogyakarta and
\nJepara in Central Java.<\/p>\n
\"While drought will hit those regencies, rain will fall in
\nsome parts of the country including some parts of Sumatra,
\nKalimantan and North Sulawesi,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Acting coordinating minister for people's welfare A. Malik
\nFadjar said the dry season would also reduce the volume of water
\nin 58 dams across the country.<\/p>\n
\"We will conduct cloud seeding in some parts of Java and
\nSumatra and provide water trucks, as well as help people to make
\nwells in anticipation of the drought,\" Malik said.<\/p>\n
He said the government would provide 30 kilograms of free rice
\nper month for poor families and manual work with a daily wage of
\nRp 15,000, including repairing irrigation facilities, for the
\nunemployed.<\/p>\n
He said the government would also provide free medicine at
\ncommunity health centers since health problems, such as stomach,
\nskin and respiratory diseases, commonly occurred during the dry
\nseason.<\/p>\n
\"We hope the situation will not be exploited by presidential
\ncandidates for their own interests,\" he said.<\/p>\n
The country will conduct its first direct presidential
\nelection on July 5 and a possible runoff on Sept. 20.<\/p>\n
Five candidates -- Wiranto, Megawati Soekarnoputri, Amien
\nRais, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and Hamzah Haz -- are contesting
\nthe July 5 direct presidential election.<\/p>\n
According to data from the Ministry of Agriculture, several
\nfarming areas in the country have suffered drought since January
\nthis year. Some 447 hectares of farmland were affected by drought
\nin March, 960 hectares in April and 786 hectares in May.<\/p>\n
Two years ago, some 80,000 hectares of farmland across the
\ncountry suffered crop failure due to drought while last year,
\n30,000 hectares of farmland was affected.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/dry-season-to-start-next-month-bmg-1447893297",
"image": ""
},
"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}