Government to give free rice to drought-hit farmers
Sari P. Setiogi and M. Taufiqurrahman, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The government promised on Tuesday to distribute 20,000 tons of rice worth Rp 60 billion (US$7.5 million) and embark on labor- intensive programs for 250,000 farmers across Java who are unable to work their land because of the current drought.
"We are now focusing on addressing problems resulting from the drought because it has hit Java's rice-producing belt. We will also help farmers in East Nusa Tenggara province," Coordinating Minister for People's Welfare Jusuf Kalla said after a meeting between Cabinet ministers and governors from drought-stricken provinces.
Minister for Manpower and Transmigration Jacob Nuwa Wea, Minister for Settlements and Regional Infrastructure Soenarno, and State Minister for the Environment Nabiel Makarim were scheduled to attend the meeting but canceled at the last minute.
"Labor-intensive programs will include the repair of irrigation canals and renovation of school buildings," Jusuf said.
He said the programs would last for two months with farmers receiving Rp 15,000 per day. The rainy season is expected to start in early October.
Jusuf said the labor-intensive programs would start next week and were expected to provide an alternative income for farmers who had experienced crop failure.
He also said that the government was considering distributing more water tank trucks to regions that had no access to clean water. Last week, eight trucks were handed over to four regencies in West Java -- Karawang, Indramayu, Subang and Cirebon. Each truck is capable of carrying 4,000 liters of water.
West Java province is the most badly affected by the drought.
West Java Governor Danny Setiawan, who was also attending the meeting, said some 57,000 hectares of rice fields in Indramayu, 30,000 in Cirebon, and 28,000 in Ciamis -- all in West Java -- had dried. The cities of Bandung, Sukabumi, Cianjur and Subang are all affected by the drought.
By mid August, about 450,000 hectares of farmland had dried up, while crop failure affected about 100,000 hectares on Java alone, said Jusuf.
About 250,000 families in Java are experiencing crop failure and tens of millions of people have no access to clean water.
Nationwide, about 1.2 million people are affected by the drought.
Minister of Health Achmad Sujudi told The Jakarta Post that several diseases had become endemic during the drought due to the shortage of clean water.
"It is difficult to maintain good sanitation during the drought because many regions lack clean water," he said before the meeting.
"So now the ministry is focusing on purifying the water. We will distribute aquatab and chlorine to purify river water and make it suitable for drinking," said Sujudi.
The minister will also distribute face masks in anticipation of forest fires.
The Meteorology and Geophysics Agency (BMG) reported that this year's dry season was relatively normal with no extreme indications.
Jusuf also said that Sumatra, Kalimantan and Sulawesi had recently had rain. Bogor and Indramayu in West Java were also reported to have had rain last Tuesday.
He said given the fact that the prolonged drought was caused by the deterioration of forests on Java due to rampant illegal logging, the government would embark on a reforestation program.
"We have been given approval by the House of Representatives to start a Rp 1 trillion reforestation program. It was started this month with the planting of seedlings," he said, adding that the government targeted the regreening of around 300,000 hectares of barren land.
The minister projected that the reforestation program would cover 500,000 hectares and 1 million hectares in 2004 and 2005 respectively.
The minister hoped that after 10 years, the program would succeed in restoring the forests around the country, especially on Java.
Apart from the massive reforestation program, the government also plans to restore water canals for the irrigation of farmland.