Bandung Regency Government Prepares Emergency Measures to Tackle Drought

The Bandung Regency Government is moving quickly to anticipate and manage the impacts of drought in its territory. These strategic steps were discussed during a coordination and performance evaluation meeting led directly by Bandung Regent Dadang Supriatna on Monday (20/7). In his directives, Dadang stressed the importance of preparedness across all regional apparatuses, Regional-Owned Enterprises (BUMD), and sub-district governments. The primary focus is directed at a rapid response to clean water needs and anticipating potential food crises in the community. “The Bandung Regency Government has prepared various emergency handling measures, ranging from optimising the use of water pumps, repairing pipeline infrastructure, to providing clean water aid for affected residents,” said Dadang. To ensure handling is swift and transparent, the Regent instructed the use of a complaint hotline connected directly to a cross-agency coordination group. Through this system, every public report regarding water channel disruptions or the need for clean water facilities can be immediately followed up by the relevant agencies and the Tirta Raharja Regional Water Company. “I send every report directly to the coordination group. There we can immediately provide solutions, determining which points need piping or water pump assistance,” he stressed. Dadang also requested that the Tirta Raharja Water Company actively convey field developments through digital media. He emphasised the importance of information transparency to increase public trust. “The water company should make videos, and I will also make videos on Instagram. For instance, if a channel is broken, the Director should check it immediately and present the before-and-after results to the public,” he added. In addition to drought management, the evaluation meeting highlighted regional budget realignment. The Bandung Regency Government is currently mapping its budget following a regional deficit and a decline in Financial Transfer Funds from the central government. Despite this, Dadang guaranteed that budgets for basic services and priority programmes that directly impact the community will not be cut. “We will finalise this on Wednesday. Currently, we are mapping efficiencies for programmes that are deemed to provide less direct benefit,” he explained. To maintain regional revenue stability, the Bandung Regency Government is strengthening collaboration with the West Java High Prosecutor’s Office and the Indonesian Hotel and Restaurant Association to improve tax compliance, particularly in the tourism sector. Finally, the Regent stressed the importance of improving the quality of the state civil apparatus’ human resources and digital literacy. He instructed the Personnel and Human Resources Development Agency to formulate training programmes so that civil servants are more responsive, adaptive to technology, and professional in delivering public services.