Regencies asked to draft contingency plans<\/p>\n
Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Around 100 regencies across the country are prone to floods in
\nthe coming months as rainfall is predicted to sharply increase,
\nthe government warned on Monday.<\/p>\n
Speaking after a limited cabinet meeting led by President
\nMegawati Soekarnoputri, Coordinating Minister of People's Welfare
\nJusuf Kalla asked the regencies to prepare a contingency plan,
\nwhich should include possible evacuation of people in the event
\nof flooding.<\/p>\n
\"These 100 regencies should anticipate the possible flood by
\ntaking a series of preventive and emergency measures,\" Kalla told
\nreporters after the meeting.<\/p>\n
The regencies vulnerable to flood are located on Sumatra, Java
\nand Sulawesi islands. Kalla said Jakarta was for sure among the
\nflood-prone areas.<\/p>\n
Rainy season is estimated to reach its peak in November,
\nDecember and January, with the rainfall slightly increasing than
\nthe same period last year.<\/p>\n
\"We will coordinate the early warning system in these
\nregencies, and the regional administrations in the flood-prone
\nareas are expected to prepare special areas to shelter people
\naffected by the floods,\" Kalla said.<\/p>\n
Each regency will receive assistance from the National
\nCoordinating Agency for National Disaster (Bakornas-PB) to
\nestablish the early warning system.<\/p>\n
\"All the information coming from the Meteorology and
\nGeophysics Agency will be disseminated to the people as soon as
\npossible,\" he said.<\/p>\n
The government also instructed regional administrations to
\nprepare emergency posts to provide first aid for flood victims.<\/p>\n
\"The early warning system and emergency post should work if
\nheavy rain begins to fall there,\" he said.<\/p>\n
To discuss the details of the anticipatory measures in the
\nface of possible floods, all regents of the flood-susceptible
\nareas will gather in Jakarta on Nov. 20.<\/p>\n
Megawati held the limited cabinet meeting to discuss the
\nthreat of floods, following the devastating flash flood in
\nLangkat regency in North Sumatra, which claimed more than 130
\nlives.<\/p>\n
Floods have always hit many parts of the country during rainy
\nseason, but the disaster has become more imminent in the past
\nfive years, thanks to the worsening environmental damage that
\ncost water catchment areas.<\/p>\n
In 2002, the capital saw one of the worst flood, with some
\nparts of the city submerging and needing two weeks to flush out
\nthe deluge. At least 25 people were killed in the natural
\ndisaster.<\/p>\n
Thousands of people across Java were forced to seek refuge and
\nlost their crops and belongings due to the big floods.<\/p>\n
The government has come under criticism for its failure to
\nimprove the environment and take measures in anticipation of the
\nnatural disaster.<\/p>\n
Kalla said the government had introduced the early warning
\nsystem in the past two years, but it did not work because most of
\nthe time people did not heed the government's calls.<\/p>\n
\"People usually refuse to abandon their homes they built along
\nthe river bank and wait until the floods came before leaving the
\nareas,\" he remarked.<\/p>\n
The minister said the local administrations were expected to
\nseek every avenue to make people listen to the early warning.<\/p>",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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