Boyolali residents fight to survive amid drought

Blontank Poer, The Jakarta Post, Boyolali

Clean water remains a luxury for many people in the country, including residents of Tegalsari hamlet in Boyolali, Central Java.

The hamlet is located near a dam and traversed by two rivers, but the dam and the rivers have dried up since the dry season arrived two months ago.

Artesian wells would relieve the water shortages, but residents here are too poor to afford wells.

"We barely have enough money to cover our daily expenses," said resident Wasilah.

Poverty prevents the people of Tegalsari from gaining access to clean water. Most of the residents are farm laborers who earn between Rp 250,000 and Rp 350,000 a month (US$25 and $35).

That is barely enough to feed the average family, send the children to school and pay the electricity bill.

In the absence of wells, 56 people from eight families in the hamlet rely on a spring near their neighborhood for water for cooking. To wash their clothes and bathe, residents use what little water remains in the two rivers.

With water becoming more difficult to obtain, residents are doing all they can to obtain this precious commodity. A feasibility study was conducted recently on the possibility of "tapping" the smaller of the two rivers traversing the hamlet. This would involve digging a hole in the middle of the river and allowing the water to flow into it, giving it the appearance of a very small dam.

Because the river is filled with sand and small stones, it would help clean the water by acting as a filter.

Residents would then use the water to fill earthenware jars able to hold up to 10 liters of water.

"We would have to be patient and careful when filling the jars. The soil in the walls of the hole could easily slide, and if that happened it would turn the river water brown," said Rumini, a resident.

There is hope among residents that the government will lend some type of assistance in the project. When The Jakarta Post visited the area with two reporters from a local publication and a private television station, one resident mistook the journalists for government officials.

"Thank you for visiting us," said 60-year-old Wiryo. The resident was sorely disappointed after learning the three were merely journalists, who could do nothing more for the people of the hamlet than tell other people about their story.