President orders immediate distribution of free-rice
President orders immediate distribution of free-rice
Fabiola Desy Unidjaja and Ainur R. Sophiaan, The Jakarta Post,
Jakarta/Surabaya
President Megawati Soekarnoputri ordered Cabinet ministers on
Thursday to start emergency measures by Monday to help people who
are suffering due to the drought across Java.
The priority program will be the distribution of 20,000 tons
of free rice for 250,000 farmers who cannot work their land and
the dispatch of more water tanks.
"The President instructed us to begin the program by Monday,
underlining that we need to ensure food security and clean water
for these farmers," Coordinating Minister for People's Welfare
Jusuf Kalla said after a Cabinet meeting.
He said the government had allocated some Rp 150 billion
(US$17.7million) from the reserved emergency fund of the current
2003 state budget to finance the program.
"These farmers are unable to work their land due to lack of
water, and we calculate that it will effect around one million
people if we do not start the program immediately," he said.
For clean water, Kalla said the government would send an
additional 200 water tanks per day. Currently there are some 800
water tanks trucks operating every day, serving around four
million people whose areas are affected by the drought.
Java is affected the most by the dry season, the most severe
since 1997, with the Meteorology and Geophysics Agency (BMG)
predicting that the season will peak in September. The agency
also forecast that rain will only fall in October.
Kalla said that despite the fact that this year's drought was
not as bad as that of 1997 as a result of the El Nino phenomenon,
the worsening quality of the environment had decreased the
capability of land to reserve water and had a massive impact on
farmland.
The government has estimated that around 100,000 hectares of
farmland on the densely populated island will suffer from crop
failure, while another 450,000 hectares from water deficit.
The harvest failure is expected to reduce rice production by
up to 300,000 tons this year.
Meanwhile in Surabaya, Minister of Settlements and Regional
Infrastructure Soenarno said that a labor-intensive program would
begin late this month for 148,000 farmers in the East Java
regencies of Lamongan, Tulungagung and Bojonegoro.
The government has allocated Rp 28.5 billion for the program,
which will include the repair of irrigation canals and renovation
of school buildings to give employment for farmers during the dry
season.