Soeharto dedicates new dam, launches water saving drive

Soeharto dedicates new dam, launches water saving drive

JAKARTA (JP): Concerned over the widespread inefficient use of
water, President Soeharto launched a national water saving
campaign yesterday.

The drive aims at preventing severe, long-term water
shortages, Soeharto said in Lombok, West Nusa Tenggara, when
addressing the 14th anniversary of World Food Day.

The goal of the campaign is to direct the attitudes of
government officials, businesses and the public alike toward
efficient use of water, the President said.

FAO selected "Water for Life" as this year's theme of
commemoration of the International Food Day and Indonesia took
"Water sustainable, life shines."

Since the first Five Year Plan (Pelita I) in 1969, the
Soeharto administration focused on water resource development,
which resulted in self-sufficiency in rice production.

Soeharto said after building substantial irrigation systems
over the past two decades that Indonesia needs to focus on more
effective and efficient use of water.

"To achieve this goal, we must maintain water resources,
better control exploitation of forests and protect river basins,"
said Soeharto in the ceremony attended by numerous senior
officials and other notables.

The FAO representative in Jakarta, Ibrahim Abul-Zahab, said
that the global water supply available for human consumption is
9,000 cubic kilometers a year or about 1,800 cubic meters per
person.

"This may sound like a lot of water but the available
resources are neither distributed evenly nor used efficiently,"
he said.

He said lack of knowledge, resources and sometimes sheer
irresponsibility has led to the current pollution crisis, which
has cause both diseases and deaths.

World Food Day in Indonesia was centered in Pelambik village,
Central Lombok, an area which stands as a symbol of the success
of agricultural development and has made West Nusa Tenggara one
of Indonesia's 10 largest rice producers.

On the occasion, President Soeharto also dedicated an
irrigation reservoir in the Pengga. (pan)