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