Food shortages loom in 3 areas
JAKARTA (JP): Food shortages are threatening thousands of people in several subdistricts in Central Sulawesi, North Maluku and East Kalimantan as the economic crisis continues to deteriorate, media reports said yesterday.
In Banggai regency, Central Sulawesi, 526 families, or 2,735 people, are suffering shortages due to a lack of rain.
The head of the Banggai social affairs office, Nuhung Arsyad, told Antara yesterday that the drought which had lasted for the last five months has made it impossible for farmers to plant crops.
In the worst affected villages of Malik and Bina Karya, people are living on bamboo shoots, sago and gadung (a wild tuber which is poisonous if not cooked properly), he said.
"I personally saw the villagers' hardship... their situation is deplorable because they are eating less than they need," he said recalling his recent visit to the isolated area.
Nuhung said he saw housewives in Siuna Bay soaking gadung for at least two days to neutralize the toxin.
"We have lived on the tuber over the past two months," he quoted a housewife as saying. "A cup of sweet tea in the morning is a luxury at this time."
The Banggai administration plans to send five tons of rice to the affected area, where 550 hectares of productive land is now a wasteland.
Drought has also caused the harvest to fail in the northern Maluku island of Ternate, where about 200 families, or 943 people, are affected, Antara reported.
Residents said that famine was looming large unless the government sent relief aid in the near future.
Djabir Syahbuddin, the village chief of Tufure, said the drought had dashed people's hopes for a plentiful harvest and threatened their cattle.
He said that since January last year, rain had fallen only once, adding that the regency government had sent in 2.6 tons of rice.
In Riau, Indragiri Hulu regent Ruchiyat Saefudin reported yesterday that supplies of basic commodities in his area were running out.
The essential commodities include rice, sugar, cooking oil and milk. He said only 50 tons of rice was left in the local logistics agency's warehouse, which was enough for only several weeks.
Except for sugar, prices of the basic commodities in the regency remain high. The price of chicken has soared from Rp 6,400 to Rp 7,800 and high grade rice costs Rp 2,600 per kilogram.
In East Kalimantan, the Kutai regency administration said it planned to provide 80 tons of rice to the hinterland subdistrict of Wahau where food shortages had occurred.
East Kalimantan deputy governor Suwarna Abdul Fatah said Thursday that each affected family would be given five kilograms of rice.
The local authorities also plan a labor-intensive job-creation program for the affected area. (pan)