Floods in southern Sumatra lay waste to crops

Muhammad Uzair and Oyos Saroso, The Jakarta Post, Palembang/Lampung

Flooding in Lampung and South Sumatra provinces in the past week have claimed at least three lives, cut traffic and washed away thousands hectares of rice fields in the area, which would likely lead to a serious rice shortfall in the region.

In Ogan Komering Ilir regency, South Sumatra, flood waters overwhelmed hundreds of houses and parts of the Trans-Sumatra eastern highway, cutting land transportation into or from southern Sumatra.

On Sunday, hundreds of vehicles were stuck in water up to 2 meters deep.

Muhammad Tohir, a Palembang resident, said that he had been stranded in Ogan Komering Ilir regency for three days, because the road back to Palembang was impassable.

Tohir, 39, has been forced to sleep in his car at the Tanjung Raja bus station in the regency, waiting for the water to subside.

The public transportation buses have also had similar troubles.

In Lampung province, the flooding has killed three people in Tulangbawang and North Lampung regencies. The two persons killed in Tulangbawang regency were Mulyadi, 11 and Mat Atunoh, 50, while in North Lampung regency, one victim was identified as Achmadi, 15.

They were reportedly killed after being swept away by strong river currents in their respective regencies.

In addition to the fatalities, the flooding in Lampung province has also washed away some 10,000 hectares of rice crops in East Lampung, Central Lampung, North Lampung, South Lampung and Tanggamus regencies.

The head of Lampung Agricultural Office, Untung Sugiarto, said in order to help the farmers cope with the harvest failure, his office had set aside tons of much-needed seedlings for the farmers affected.

He said that his office had earmarked 15 kilograms of corn seedlings and 25 kilograms of rice seedlings for each hectare damaged by the flood.