T

he temporary closure of the Lembar ferry crossing in West Lombok, West Nusa Tenggara, over the past three days has caused agricultural produce being transported in trucks to start rotting.

At least 200 trucks remained stranded as of Sunday, forming a 500-meter-long queue outside the ferry terminal.

The queue is expected to grow after the Lembar branch of state-owned PT Indonesian Ferry closed Saturday the crossing, which links the regency to Bali province.

Truck drivers delivering agricultural produce said the lower sections of their cargoes were already damaged.

"It's quite difficult during the rainy season. If we cover the cargo with a tarpaulin, it gets wet," driver Agus Suparno told The Jakarta Post.

"But if we leave it open, the produce gets wet."

Agus was delivering 6 tons of onions from East Lombok regency to Pekalongan regency in East Java.

"I got here early Friday. I usually only need 24 hours to reach my destination," he said. "The loss is huge, because onions are easily damaged."

Another driver, Hadi Suratno, said he faced hefty losses for being late with his delivery of bananas and coconuts from Sumbawa regency to Magetan regency in Central Java.

Indonesian Ferry recorded that as of Sunday there were 205 trucks, 10 buses and 10 cars queueing at the ferry crossing.

"The weather is very bad, according to reports from the Meteorology and Geophysics Agency *BMG* and skippers who still have the chance to sail," Lembar operational manager Lunggu Simanjuntak told the Post.

"There are strong winds and 4-meter-high waves. That's why we closed the crossing."

Lunggu said similar conditions were being seen at the Padangbai ferry crossing in Karangasem regency, Bali, as well as at other crossings in the province.

In Yogyakarta, more bad weather has kept hundreds of fishermen grounded, while strong winds have damaged hundreds of hectares of rice paddies ready to be harvested.

Local fishermen have not gone out to sea for the last five days, instead killing time by mending their nets or fishing from the beach.

"Once we tried our luck and went out fishing. We were smashed by strong winds that caused a crew member to be thrown overboard," said Mugari, a fisherman at Samas Beach in Bantul regency.

"Luckily, he was experienced and hung on to the net, otherwise he would have been swept away."

Mugari said now was the best time to harvest sea snails, which fetched good prices for export.

"Many fishermen from outside Yogyakarta come here for that, including from Cilacap, Gombong and Kebumen in Central Java," he said.