Bappenas warns local governments to prepare for the impact of Godzilla El Niño

Padang (ANTARA) - The National Development Planning Agency (Bappenas) has reminded local governments (pemda) to anticipate the impact of Godzilla El Niño, which has the potential to severely affect Indonesia in 2026.

“Now, this requires special attention from everyone, particularly in agriculture and plantations, as the symptoms of Godzilla El Niño will last quite a long time,” said Deputy for Regional Development at Bappenas RI, Medrilzam, in Padang, West Sumatra, on Wednesday.

This was stated by Medrilzam during the Provincial Development Planning Deliberation (Musrenbang) for West Sumatra.

Medrilzam said the potential for Godzilla El Niño follows warnings from global meteorological experts about the threat of this phenomenon, which could impact various sectors, especially agriculture.

In addition to the agricultural sector, Bappenas has also urged all local governments to prepare anticipatory measures regarding the potential for forest and land fires (karhutla) and droughts resulting from this natural phenomenon.

“We truly request attention from all levels, from regents, mayors, to village heads; this must be anticipated,” Medrilzam stated.

He emphasised that preparations for Godzilla El Niño must be made early to prevent major karhutla cases like those in 2015. If not prepared, it is feared to have widespread impacts.

“Don’t let the major fire incident from early 2015 happen again in Indonesia. So, we must anticipate it,” he said.

This means, he added, that massive anticipatory measures are needed so that the various potential threats do not worsen or disrupt the government’s ongoing disaster recovery processes at the central, provincial, and local levels.

On that occasion, he also touched on the global situation, which is not going well, thus also affecting Indonesia. The Middle East war between the United States and its ally Israel against Iran is also impacting Indonesia.