Drought continues in E. Nusa Tenggara
Drought continues in E. Nusa Tenggara
Yemris Fointuna, The Jakarta Post, Kupang
Citizens of Kupang regency, on the western half of Timor, are
facing a serious water shortage and hundreds of hectares of crops
are under threat of destruction due to the prolonged severe
drought in the regency.
The first week of this month has been particularly difficult
for those living in remote areas in the regency, some of whom
have had to walk great distances in search of clean water.
Telsi Viktoria, a housewife in Tunbaun village, Amarasi
district, said that she has to walk 15 kilometers everyday to get
to drinking water sources in coastal areas.
"All of the water sources in this village are completely dry,
villagers have to walk 15 kilometers to find water," she told The
Jakarta Post here on Thursday.
Viktoria also said she might suffer millions of rupiah in
losses if the rice she is currently growing is destroyed by the
prolonged drought.
In the districts of Amarasi and West Kupang, food and
secondary crops over vast areas are beginning to dry up,
potentially creating a massive food shortage in the near future.
"Because our livelihood depends on the sale of our crops, this
drought has effectively slashed our income already," said
Victoria.
Mathius Bulu Mila, a farmer in Oetmatnunu, West Kupang,
concurred and said the severe drought has damaged many types of
crops in the village.
Yopie Latie, a resident of Oetete subdistrict, said most
people living on the city's outskirts have to buy drinking water
because all the wells in their village have dried up.
"Privately-owned water trucks come to the village to supply
clean water everyday and the people here have no alternative but
to buy water from the private businessmen," he said, citing each
container of water costs Rp 20,000.
Meanwhile, Piet Djami Rebo, chief of the provincial settlement
and infrastructure office, said his office was surveying several
water sources to make several large wells to help supply water to
some of the worst-hit subdistricts.
Deputy regent Frids Djubida said the local administration was
planning to build 20 water reservoirs in the regency,
particularly in agricultural areas.