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Govt to build reservoirs in flood-prone areas
The government will build on-farm reservoirs in the near future in flood-prone villages, including in flood-hit Karawang in West Java, where flash floods have hit farms and may endanger food supplies, to try to help prevent future disasters
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T
he government will build on-farm reservoirs in the near future in flood-prone villages, including in flood-hit Karawang in West Java, where flash floods have hit farms and may endanger food supplies, to try to help prevent future disasters.
“In the short term, [we] will build on-farm reservoirs in flood-prone villages,” Agriculture Minister Suswono told The Jakarta Post over the weekend in a short text message.
“[We] will give seeds and fertilizers as replacements [for damaged ones] to farmers in areas affected by the floods.”
Suswono, however, did not elaborate how much money would be spent on these plans.
He also did not say how government plans might help mitigate an ongoing lack of food supplies in the affected area — as a result of the floods — which originated outside the Karawang regency and have caused major problems for thousands of victims, including many children, who have begin to suffer from diseases.
The minister added that future challenges to the agricultural sector included climate change, massive land conversion and poor infrastructure, including damaged irrigation systems.
“The government will soon issue a government regulation on the implementing regulation of the 2009 Law on the Protection of Sustainable Agricultural Production for Food to protect productive lands,” he said, adding the regulation was expected to be finalized later this year.
The floods in Karawang, which have lasted more than a week, are believed to be the worst in 15 years.
Forestry Minister Zulkifli Hasan has blamed the situation partially on the conversion of large tracts of the banks of the Citarum River into agricultural land, leading to “22 percent of the land becoming problematic”.
The West Java Provincial Development Planning Agency records that between 4,000 and 5,000 hectares of land in the province are converted into farms every year.
Karawang Regent Dadang S. Muchtar earlier said the floods had forced 65,000 residents to flee to higher ground.
He said to stop the spread of floods to other areas along the Citarum River in Karawang and Bekasi, he had asked the Jatiluhur Dam authorities to release more water from the dam.
Public Welfare Coordinating Minister Agung Laksono said earlier the government would provide Rp 500 million (US$55,000) worth of initial emergency response measures for victims in the Karawang area alongside other contributions from government ministries and agencies amounting to another Rp 400 million.
Floods along the Citarum River’s banks in Karawang are reported to have inundated more than 15,000 houses in the 10 districts of West and East Karawang, West and East Teluk Jambe, Ciampel, Batujaya, Pakisjaya, Rengasdengklok, Klari and Jayakerta.
The floods are also reported to have submerged more than 800 hectares of rice fields across Karawang.
