South Kalimantan river basin critical

BANJARMASIN, South Kalimantan: Most of the river basin and water catchment areas in South Kalimantan are in critical condition and will seriously hinder flood prevention.

The head of the public works agency, Syarifuddin Baseri, said Friday in Banjarmasin that the situation was caused by forestry concession owners' inconsistent regreening efforts, and people's mining and agricultural activities.

The Metereology and Geophysical Agency has predicted that South Kalimantan is one of the provinces likely to be heavily affected by the La Nia weather phenomenon, leading to higher levels of rainfall than normal.

As quoted by Antara on Friday, Syarifuddin said river and sewer cleaning were being undertaken to anticipate flooding.

He said the most vulnerable areas in the province would probably be in the west and eastern parts of the Meratus mountains, namely the Barito Kuala regency and the east coast of the Kotabaru regency, apart form the north of Banua Lima.

This was where the river basin's condition was most critical, he said. In all areas the forests were depleted, he said.