Dry season starts early in Jakarta and north Java

Dry season starts early in Jakarta and north Java

JAKARTA (JP): The dry season will begin as early as April in Jakarta and most northern coastal areas of Java, which could have severe implications on water supplies in the region, the weather forecast agency says.

Some parts of the country, including Situbondo in East Java, East Sumba, East Flores and the northern part of East Timor, will even experience dry spell as early as this month, the Meteorology and Geophysics Agency said.

Agency chairman Karjoto told reporters on Monday that the early than normal arrival of the dry season in Java could severely deplete water resources on the island given that the rainy season arrived late last year.

Karjoto said to anticipate another long dry spell, his agency has already began discussions with other government agencies on plans to conduct cloud-seeding in order to induce rain.

The government last year responded to the situation late, and had little time to launch efforts to induce rain as there were barely enough clouds between the months of July and September, when the drought was at its peak.

This year the Agency for the Research and Application of Technology, which is chaired by State Minister of Research and Technology B.J. Habibie, is already planning to hold the first discussion involving various government agencies on the cloud- seeding program this week.

The severe dry spell last year resulted in reductions in the country's production of rice, forcing Indonesia to import rice for the first time since it became self sufficient in the staple diet in 1984.

Karjoto said the cloud-seeding programs will be concentrated largely to fill in the various reservoirs in Java, such as Jatiluhur, Karangates and Gajah Mungkur.

He said the severity of the dry season in Indonesia has been less predictable over the last four years.

He blamed this on the rising temperature on the surface of the Central Pacific which in turn led to declining rainfall in Indonesia.

In each of the last four years, the average rainfall in Indonesia was 62 percent of the normal rate, he said. The worst was in 1991 when it was 22 percent. In 1993 it was 70 percent and in 1994 just 30 percent. The average rainfall was higher than normal in 1992. This year, the average rainfall is expected to be below normal again, he added.

Karjoto said the dry season will begin in April on the northern coast of West Java, the northern coast of Central Java, the southern coast of East Java, and the hills south of Bandung.

The dry season will begin in May in the central part of East Java, Lampung, and the western part of Sulawesi.

The dry season will begin in May in Pandeglang, southern Sukabumi, Banyumas, southern Sumatra, Jambi, the eastern part of Central Kalimantan, south Minahasa and Southeast Maluku.

The eastern part of South Kalimantan, most of South Sulawesi and the northern part of Minahasa will be the regions where the dry season will begin late this year, Karjoto said. (emb)