Drought spreads, badly affects Yogyakarta, Aceh

Drought spreads, badly affects Yogyakarta, Aceh

JAKARTA (JP): Many rice-producing areas in Java and Sumatra
have begun to feel the pinch of this year's drought which could
threaten national rice production.

The severe drought, expected to last until the end of October,
has forced 74,000 people in Gunung Kidul, Yogyakarta, to travel
far to fetch water or to buy water from traders.

Many there have been forced to share the precious water supply
with their cattle. Chickens even have to peck at banana trees to
get water in the poor regency.

At least 262 man-made lagoons and hundreds of deep wells have
dried up in seven subdistricts covering 38 villages in the
regency.

A local official said the local administration has tried to
alleviate the water shortage by transporting clean water to each
village, with each expected to receive a tanker truck full of
water per day.

But with only nine trucks, not every village can be supplied
each day.

"Our budget allocation for water is only Rp 14 million, we
need at least another Rp 40 million to enable us to supply more
water to the worst hit areas," Antara quoted Suhardono, the head
of social affairs of the Gunung Kidul regency, as saying
yesterday.

The scarcity of clean water has made drinking water a
lucrative business. Traders often go to the villages selling
water.

"We buy water for Rp 20,000 per tank, and the price may
increase," complained Marto from Pacarejo Semanu village.

In Aceh Besar, Aceh, thousands of villagers fasted for two
days before performing Istisqa', a prayer for rain. The drying up
of wells has forced many to consume water from the heavily
polluted Leumpung river.

An ulema from Lhoknga, Muhammad Ibrahim, said thousands of
hectares of rice paddies, mostly dependent on rain water for
irrigation, cannot be cultivated. The worst affected areas are
villages in Lhoknga, Lampu-uk, Leupung and Kueh, 15 kilometers
from Banda Aceh.

"If this drought continues I fear we may face a food shortage
this year," said the ulema.

However, local officials were more optimistic.

"The drought hasn't affected rice or other crops here," said
provincial agriculture office official Zainul Panglima Polem.

The Agency for Meteorology and Geophysics predicted recently
that this year's rainy season would not likely start until
December, three months later than usual.

Agency chief Sri Diharto also predicted that rain intensity in
the wet season would be "light" because of the presence of the El
Nino weather system. An increase in forest fires also coincides
with severe droughts.

However, the dean of the Geography School of Gajah Mada
University in Yogyakarta, Sutikno, said El Nino should not be
solely blamed for the drought.

"The drought will continue every year if we fail to stop
deforestation and other environmental destruction," he said
yesterday.

In Central Java, the worst drought-hit areas are Rembang,
Klaten and Boyolali regencies.

Water levels in Central Java's reservoirs have dropped
drastically during the dry season.

But some local residents have taken advantage of the dried-up
reservoirs, including the Kedungombo reservoir in Boyolali, by
planting rice, corn, soy beans and other crops on the fertile dry
beds.

The drought has affected a rice procurement program in the
province.

Central Java's State Logistic Agency (BULOG) spokesman Ade
Nugroho said the agency has only been able to purchase 250 tons
of rice from farmers per day from the average 500 tons per day.

He said farmers are apparently stocking up on rice in
preparation for the prolonged dry season.

Nevertheless, the good news is BULOG's total procurement for
this year has doubled compared to last year.

"Up to August we've procured 355,450 tons of rice, compared to
only 175,066 tons for the same period in 1996," Ade said.

BULOG allocated another 200,000 tons for "Operation Market" to
stabilize rice prices. "We can supply even more rice to stabilize
the price when necessary," Ade boasted. (23/prb)