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he Bandar Lampung municipality in cooperation with NGOs Mercy Corps Indonesia and Mitra Bentala has targeted to construct more biopores to improve water retention across the city.

The municipality aims to build up to 5 million biopore infiltration holes in the next two years to prevent floods in the city.

'€œThe biopore program in Bandar Lampung has thus far succeeded in building 1 million biopore infiltration holes located in five subdistricts, schools and government offices,'€ said Bandar Lampung Mayor Herman HN during an Earth Day event with the theme '€œBiopores for Adapting to Climate Change and the Environment'€ held in Bandar Lampung on Tuesday.

According to Herman, support from the municipality for the biopore program has been realized in the form of City Bylaw No. 62/2013 on rainwater utility.

'€œWe, Mitra Bentala and Mercy Corps are making efforts to educate the urban community on the Rainwater Harvest program so that residents can learn how rainwater utility can be helpful during a prolonged drought,'€ said Herman.

Mercy Corps Indonesia representative Paul Jeffery said his group was very supportive and appreciated the commitment and efforts made by the Bandar Lampung municipality.

He said that Mercy Corps Indonesia would be carrying out the biopore program in Indonesia with the Bandar Lampung and Semarang (Central Java) municipalities from 2009 until 2016 and would work with 10 other cities in Indonesia in the future.

Meanwhile, Mitra Bentala executive director Mashabi said construction of the biopores would be futile without public participation.

'€œThe program would not be sustainable without the commitment of every societal element,'€ said Mashabi.

According to him, Mitra Bentala, which is in charge of the project, has prepared strategies to ensure the sustainable construction of biopores in the city and its surrounding areas by setting up the Biopore Information House, which will serve as an information and biopore facility center covering Lampung province.

Climate Change Vulnerability division head at the Environment Ministry, Astutie Widyarissantie, said biopores had a wide impact on the water sector and many uses, especially for agriculture and health sectors.

The biopore program in Bandar Lampung was carried out as a result of a survey by the Asian Cities Climate Change Resilience Network (ACCCRN) in 2009, under the auspices of the Mercy Corps, which mentioned that Bandar Lampung was prone to flooding and droughts, she added.