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NTB farmers demand restoration of irrigation
Dozens of farmers from Central Lombok, staged a proteston Friday at the Public Works Agency office in Mataram, West Nusa Tenggara(NTB), demanding the administration fix the irrigation system in their region
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D
ozens of farmers from Central Lombok, staged a proteston Friday at the Public Works Agency office in Mataram, West Nusa Tenggara(NTB), demanding the administration fix the irrigation system in their region.
The farmers were from seven districts, namely Pringgarata, Praya, Praya Barat, Praya Barat Daya, Pujut, Jonggat and Praya Tengah.
They said they had been facing a water shortage for the past week, in the middle of the planting season.
They also claimed that the crisis might have been triggered by ongoing mining activities around the Sedau Keru Dam in West Lombok, which has clogged irrigation channels.
Rally coordinator Wirabhakti said that more than 28,000 hectares of rice fields across the seven districts had been affected by the water crisis.
'The fields have a potential to produce 5 tons of rice per hectare. You can imagine what would happen if there was no water. It might lead to harvest failure, which would lead to poverty among farmers because we would not be able to earn a living from our fields,' Wirabhakti said.
NTB Public Works Agency head Dwi Sugiyanto said that he had ordered his officials to check the issue and fix the irrigation channels.
'There is indeed activity going on at Sedau Keru Dam, but it is not mining activity. Our office is conducting dredging near the area,' Dwi said.
'I have told them to temporarily stop the activity so the water supply [to farmers] can return to normal,' he said, adding that the water crisis was also triggered by climate change.
