Floods threaten W. Kalimantan

Floods threaten W. Kalimantan

PONTIANAK, W. Kalimantan: Following incessant rain over the
last week, floods are threatening to inundate almost all cities
in the province, particularly affecting people living in low-
lying areas.

According to Antara on Tuesday, rainfall had not ceased in the
province and was predicted to reach between 13 and 14 centimeters
in the coming weeks.

M. Chaeran, chief of the local office of the Meteorological
and Geophysics Agency (BMG), said the provincial administration
and related offices should work hand in hand to prepare for
flooding because almost all cities in the province were expected
to experience heavy downpours until January 2002.

He said the heavy rains were threatening people living in
lower areas near the Kapuas River in the provincial capital and
the northern coastal areas in Singkawang, Pemangkat and Sambas.

"The bad weather in the province is indicated by the
accumulation of thick clouds above Malaysia, the Karimata Straits
and Java Sea.

"All areas, including East Kalimantan, facing the South China
Sea, will have strong winds similar to typhoons in the coming
weeks," he said.

He said floods also had a lot to do with environmental
degradation and the increasing number of critically damaged land
areas in Kalimantan. --Antara