GOVT LAUNCHES ALL-OUT EFFORTS TO MITIGATE IMPACTS OF EL NINO-INDUCED DROUGHT by Fardah

     Jakarta, Aug 6 , 2015 (Antara) - Since last year, the government has anticipated the development of the natural phenomenon El Nino that usually delays the monsoon and triggers a drought in Indonesia.   
  At the start, Indonesia expected weak to moderate El Nino, but now, there is an indication that a strong El Nino similar to that experienced in 1997-98 is developing. 
  In 1997-98, extremely dry El Nino conditions in Indonesia kicked off a wave of large-scale uncontrolled fires, destroying about five million hectares of tropical forests, or equivalent to seven million football fields, according to http://theconversation.com in an article titled "Indonesia at risk from huge fires because of El Nino" published in June 2015.

        Some 198 thousand hectares of land across Indonesia are prone to face drought every year.  Currently, drought has hit 102 districts in 16 of the country's 34 provinces

  In the meantime, forest fires have been reported in parts of Sumatra Island, particularly Riau Province and Kalimantan Island. 
  In Riau alone, some 1.2 thousand hectares of forest and plantation areas were burnt down, and over five thousand people suffer from health problems due to the haze arising from the wildfires since June.

       It is becoming increasingly important to enforce the law against perpetrators who deliberately set fires to clear land for farming areas as their actions have increased the number of wildfires, particularly razing peatland areas.

       The Riau security authorities have named 24 suspects in forest and land fires in the province from January to July 2015. Other fire-affected regions should also strengthen legal enforcement.

        Besides triggering forest fires, the ongoing dry spells have caused dams and rivers to dry out, thereby triggering harvest failures and clean water shortages. Prolonged drought could also trigger a dengue fever outbreak. 
   Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs Indroyono Soesilo, after attending a cabinet meeting on El Nino led by President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) on July 31, 2015, warned of harvest failures and a dengue fever outbreak as  drought affecting the country.

       To deal with such impacts, the government should make all-out efforts to extinguish the forest fires, prevent the public from being affected by the haze or being infected by dengue fever, and to help provide adequate water to the farmers and the public living in arid areas.  
   President Jokowi explained that the government is providing water pumps as a short-term solution to cope with the drought.

        As a long-term solution, the government is set to build thousands of small and big dams and reservoirs in several places, Jokowi added.

       The government has also urged the public to dig absorption wells. "Don't simply complain during drought, while nothing is done to store water when it is available in abundance," President Jokowi remarked in the meeting.

        Moreover, the Public Works and Housing Ministry said it has taken a number of steps to avert damage by extreme dry season this year.

        "We have continued intensive monitoring of water availability in reservoirs," Public Works and Housing Minister Basuki Hadimuljono said on August 4, 2015.

        The farmers have been told not to be wasteful in using water, the minister said, adding,"We told them how to use water efficiently."
   As a short term step to cope with deficit in water supply, the ministry has distributed water pumps  in areas more vulnerable to  drought, he said.

        Mobile water tanks , public hydrants are made available  and new wells are dug  and they were given  water pumps, he said.

        "That is short term steps. In mid term steps we speed up development of 13 dams in 10 provinces this year," the minister said.

        Earlier,  Director General of Water Resources Mudjiadi  said from intensive monitoring of 147 water reservoirs, the levels of water surface are normal in nine of 16 largest dams including Jatiluhur, Cirata, Sermo,  and  Sutami.

        Water deficit was seen in five  other dams including  Keuliling, Batu Tegi, Saguling, Wonogiri and  Bening , and two dams -- Wadas Lintang and Sempor already dried up.

        In the meantime, the Ministry of Agriculture has set aside Rp800 billion in anticipation of the impacts the ongoing drought may have on the sector.

         Minister of Agriculture Amran Sulaiman said on August 3 that he had initially allocated Rp2 trillion to improve irrigation networks, but the Parliament approved only Rp800 billion.

        Sulaiman further noted that as his office had anticipated the drought in December 2014, they distributed as many as 21,000 water pumps to farmers, developed 1,000 water reservoirs, and improved 1.3 million hectares of tertiary-irrigated fields.

       The fields that faced harvest failure can be compensated by raising planting areas to 400 thousand hectares in the October to March period, he affirmed.

    (f001/INE)
(T.F001/A/BESSR/F. Assegaf) 06-08-2015 13:18:09