Gerindra Legislator Outlines Measures to Anticipate Drought During Dry Season

Drought caused by the dry season has struck a number of regions in Indonesia. Novita Wijayanti, a member of Commission V of the DPR RI, said the commission has carried out several measures to deal with the drought.

“We have very many programmes indeed to support how the drought is handled,” Novita told journalists in the Pulogebang area of East Jakarta on Thursday (30/7/2026).

Novita said her side had built and repaired a number of retention basins (embung) and irrigation systems. This was done so that water can continue to be stored and rice paddies can remain irrigated.

“We have rolled out the retention basin programme, then we also rolled out the irrigation programme, repairing water channels so that all waterways can be managed properly, the channels work well, and even irrigate the rice fields properly. Then we build retention basins, so that in dry areas, if there is water it can be stored there,” she said.

Furthermore, Novita said boreholes had also been drilled in drought-affected areas. Community-based drinking water supply and sanitation programmes (pamsimas) have also been established so that water can be channelled to communities.

“In fact, we have also drilled many boreholes in drought-affected areas, and there is pamsimas, which also stores water so it can be channelled to the public. There are roughly a great many programmes we are carrying out in Commission V to handle this,” she said.

Novita said drought prevention had already been carried out in various regions. She gave as an example that prevention had already been undertaken in her constituency, namely Banyumas and Cilacap in Central Java.

“For example, just in my constituency in Banyumas and Cilacap. In many of the villages I have built them in Baturraden, then in Cilacap, and many more. And indeed our colleagues across various constituencies, provinces and regencies are handling water channels and so on,” she said.