DPR Member Urges BRIN to Address Clean Water Crisis in Padasari, Tegal
Jakarta (ANTARA) – Abdul Fikri Faqih, a member of Commission X of the Indonesian House of Representatives, has urged the National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN) to immediately address a clean water crisis in natural disaster areas, including Padasari, Jatinegara, Tegal Regency, Central Java.
“Given that clean water needs cannot be postponed, we hope for a reminder to BRIN, perhaps through the provincial government, so that this problem is resolved swiftly,” Fikri said as quoted in Jakarta on Saturday.
The appeal was made following findings during a working visit by Commission X of the House of Representatives during its recess period to the Central Java Regional Government Office in Ungaran. He stated that the urgent need exists in particular in the area where temporary housing for victims of the landslide disaster in Padasari, Tegal Regency, is being constructed.
During his inspection of the disaster site alongside the Chair of the People’s Consultative Assembly, Fikri received reports from the Public Works Ministry regarding inadequate water sources. He immediately contacted BRIN’s Chief Arif Satria to request assistance in providing Arsinum (Ready-to-Drink Water) machines.
Since all current stock of Arsinum machines has been sent to Aceh, the Padasari area is awaiting completion of production of BRIN’s mobile water purification machine. This innovation, with a capacity of 10,000 litres per day, is capable of processing various types of water, including turbid and muddy water, into drinking water that meets Health Ministry standards.
“The Arsinum machine is very flexible because the water source can come from anywhere, including purifying turbid river water,” Fikri said.
Beyond the clean water crisis, the legislator from the PKS faction representing Central Java Electoral District IX also highlighted the severely depressed state of the local metal industry in Tegal. The region, once dubbed “Japan’s Indonesia”, is currently languishing, with 70 to 80 per cent of its household industries having ceased production.
Fikri believed that the paralysis of industrial activity was caused by a lack of research support in materials science, leaving local craftspeople unable to compete in the modern era.
Similar threats, he continued, also loom over industrial centres in other regions, such as exhaust pipe manufacturers in Purbalingga, metal fabrication factories in Boyolali, and metal casting operations in Klaten.
As a concrete step, Fikri ensured that all regional aspirations would be formulated in writing and forwarded to the House of Representatives’ Working Committee (Panja).
He also encouraged a review of relevant legislation in order to provide stronger protection for the sustainability of local industry.