Provinces told to create buffer stocks of rice<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): The government has decided to set up emergency
\nstocks of rice across the archipelago to help deal with a likely
\nfood shortage caused by the drought.<\/p>\n
The move follows the recent deaths of 251 villagers of cholera
\nand starvation in Irian Jaya's drought-stricken regency of
\nJayawijaya.<\/p>\n
Minister of Social Services Endang Kusuma Inten Suweno said
\nhere yesterday that the government has called on each province to
\nhave between 100 and 150 tons of rice available to deal with the
\ncrisis.<\/p>\n
\"The government has been quick and responsive on this matter,\"
\nInten said after attending a ministerial meeting on people's
\nwelfare.<\/p>\n
Inten said the government has managed to send food relief and
\nmedical assistance to more than 5,000 villagers in the worst-
\naffected subdistricts of Kurima, Ninia, Mapanduma, Tiong, Anggruk
\nand Merauke.<\/p>\n
He said the task of getting relief supplies to the villages
\nhas been made difficult by their remoteness in mountainous areas.
\nAlso, poor weather and thick haze caused by forest fires in the
\nprovince has hindered relief aircraft.<\/p>\n
Reports from Jayawijaya regency confirmed yesterday that
\nsupplies were getting through.<\/p>\n
In the capital of Wamena, Regent J.B. Wenas said the supplies
\nincluded a consignment from the social services ministry of 10
\ntons of rice, 250 boxes of mineral water, a ton of salt and 300
\nboxes of instant noodles, Antara reported.<\/p>\n
The consignment also included 500 kilograms of salted fish,
\n100 boxes of canned milk, 500 kilograms of green beans, two tons
\nof sugar, two tons of cassava, and medicine and cooking utensils.<\/p>\n
The regency said it had also received supplies from Irian Jaya
\nMilitary Command, including two tons of rice, a ton of salt, 500
\nkilograms of instant noodles, 500 kilograms of salted fish, and
\nmineral water and medicine, the agency reported.<\/p>\n
Church missionary planes and military helicopters were being
\nused to transport the food and medicine to the worst-affected
\nareas, despite the haze hanging over Baliem Valley, with its
\ndried-up rivers and failed crops.<\/p>\n
Jayawijaya regency has a population of around 50,000.<\/p>\n
According to the secretary of Coordinating Minister for
\nPeople's Welfare Azwar Anas, Suyono Yahya, the plight of the
\nvillagers has been made worse by \"the loss of livestock and the
\nsnow\".<\/p>\n
Suyono said that so far there has not been any other report on
\nfamine. He denied that the government received a report from the
\nEast Kalimantan governor about famine in the province's Kutai
\nregency.<\/p>\n
Antara reported early this month that villagers were starving
\nin Long Pahangai district -- situated 300 kilometers west of
\nTenggarong, the capital of Kutai -- after crop failure because of
\nthis year's extended dry season.<\/p>\n
Climatologists have warned that this year's prolonged dry
\nseason and related drought nationwide could continue until late
\nthis year.<\/p>\n
The cause of the drought, which is affecting other parts of
\nAsia, has been blamed on the freak weather phenomenon of El Nio,
\nwhich has been building up in the southern Pacific Ocean since
\nApril.<\/p>\n
El Nio is an abnormal state of the ocean water and atmosphere
\nin the tropical Pacific which triggers exceptionally warm and
\nlong-lived ocean currents, disrupting global rainfall and wind
\npatterns and causes droughts or floods in many regions.<\/p>\n
State Logistics Agency chief Beddu Amang reported in April
\nthat national rice stocks were at 2.4 million tons. Indonesia was
\nthe world's biggest rice importer before it reached self-
\nsufficiency in 1984. But since 1994 it has had to rely partly on
\nimports when droughts and plant diseases have affected harvests.
\n(aan)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/provinces-told-to-create-buffer-stocks-of-rice-1447893297",
"image": ""
},
"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}