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n estimated 2,000 tons of rice were damaged after the Juwana River in Pati regency, Central Java, burst its banks, leaving more than 700 hectares of rice fields inundated since Jan. 12.

According to farmer Sunhedi, 35, the rice was ready to harvest.

“The grand harvest was just 25 days away, but as the rice crops were engulfed in a 70-centimeter-deep water, the crop was either damaged or harvested earlier,” he told The Jakarta Post recently.

Normally, added Sunhedi, every hectare would yield up to six tons of rice, but they could only harvest half of their crops or sometimes even none.

Sunhedi said floods had been ruining rice fields across five districts in Pati over the past few years and that they were getting worse.

More than 5,000 hectares of rice fields were reportedly affected.

Crop failure has left thousands of farmers in South Pati struggling to make ends meet, and some are falling into debt.

Those who could harvest their crops had to pay extra to carry their harvest by boats.

The Central Java provincial administration has eventually allowed the importation of 22,500 tons of rice from Vietnam.

The floods, triggered by the overflowing Juwana River, spanning 62 kilometers from Kudus to Pati, has especially affected Pati due to the badly silted stretch of river in the regency and the huge number of fishing boats tied along the riverbanks.

A traditional fisherman, Sulistyo, 39, acknowledged that a huge number of fishing boats were currently tied along the river and almost blocked the passage.

“Fishermen haven’t dared set out to sea in the past month due to the stormy weather,” he said.

He complained about increasingly restricted access to the river with the presence of 60-ton fishing boats from neighboring Rembang Port and Pekalongan.

“They have moved here because they feared their boats would have been swept away by the rough seas. As a result, traditional fishing boats weighing below 10 tons could not pass through. So, the large boats are the main factor for the blocked flow of water,” he said.

Sulistyo and Hedi expressed hope the provincial administration and central government would immediately normalize the river and build boat terminals outside Juwana River. River normalization activities carried out along a 4.6 kilometer stretch of the upper stream areas have proven to minimize flooding in surrounding areas.

According to a representative of the Pemali Juwana River Area Agency (BBWS), Sritono, the 39.5 kilometers river normalization project would likely not be completed, pending disbursement of government funds.

”According to the plan, the project would happen in stages, using four funds to be completed in 2013,” said Sritono.

The planned Juwana River rehabilitation project in Pati, down to the river-mouth area, would be completed in four stages until 2013 and is expected to cost more than Rp 250 billion (US$27.5 million). However, the BBWS has only received Rp 7.2 billion in funds to dredge the river.