Anticipating floods

Anticipating floods

It appears that the rainy season is here again. Yesterday
(Wednesday) President Soeharto had to cancel his plan to
inaugurate a project at Ciamis. His plane could not take off in
the heavy rain.

For some of our people the coming of the rainy season means
that it's time for planting. For others it means that the time
has come to bring in the harvest. The rains are a blessing
because for some, like for those in the arid Gunung Kidul area
(south of Yogyakarta), it means they no longer have to get their
water from distant ponds. For other Indonesians the rainy season
means flooding, with all the inconveniences that brings such as
traffic jams and delayed trains.

By saying this we want to remind our fellow citizens that
nature is not something to be conquered, but something to
befriend. The coming of the rains -- and with them the floods --
is an occurrence which we should greet with both thankfulness and
anticipation. Precautions to anticipate floods during the rainy
seasons do not generally get much public attention. However, amid
the increasing damage that is being inflicted on our environment,
such efforts are a real necessity.

Our stated determination to lend an environmentally friendly
character to our development is not just an empty slogan. Rather,
it is a guiding principle that gives direction to our present
development drive. What does this mean? It means that precautions
to control floods, just as those to control droughts, must become
an inherent part of our overall effort. They should not be mere
sideshows, but rather be the most important prerequisite to
passing on to our future generations an environment that is
intact rather than ruined.

-- Kompas, Jakarta