ID :
10353
Thu, 06/19/2008 - 15:25
Auther :
Shortlink :
http://m.oananews.org//node/10353
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GOVT EXPECTED TO TAKE ANTICIPATORY STEPS IN FACE OF DROUGHT
Jakarta, June 19 (ANTARA) - Although floods are still taking place in a number of regions, signs of drought are beginning to appear in other areas in the country, making it necessary for the government to take anticipatory steps, a legislator said.
The remark was made by Syamsu Hilal of the House of Representatives (DPR)'s Commission IV which deals with agricultural, forestry and maritime affairs here on Thursday.
Hilal said farmers in a number of regions were beginning to feel the effects of drought as evident from the fact many of them recently experienced rice harvest failures.
The legislator said the government could not ignore environmental factors in its efforts to anticipate dry spells.
"We have to utilize water resources in the most efficient ways possible for the continuation of life," he said adding that water catchment regions such as conservation areas, forests and river basins had to be maintained.
The lawmaker said the government should periodically carry out normalization programs for conservation areas such as dams and rivers so that they would function well and be of maximum benefit.
In the meantime, the Meteorology and Geophysics Agency disclosed the dry season and droughts have been hitting many areas in Java since May 2008 while certain mountainous areas in the island were predicted to experience the effects of climate change as of June this year.
"In East Java and East Nusa Tenggara provinces, the rainy season was followed by the dry season in April. The dry season is now on in Central Java, West Java and other areas in Java," a spokesman for the agency, Sutamto, said in Jakarta.
Among the dry season-hit areas in Java is Garut district in West Java, where drought had since June 1, 2008, destroyed 329.28 tons of unhulled rice worth Rp921,984,000 from 277 hectares of rice fields in 31 villages.
The remark was made by Syamsu Hilal of the House of Representatives (DPR)'s Commission IV which deals with agricultural, forestry and maritime affairs here on Thursday.
Hilal said farmers in a number of regions were beginning to feel the effects of drought as evident from the fact many of them recently experienced rice harvest failures.
The legislator said the government could not ignore environmental factors in its efforts to anticipate dry spells.
"We have to utilize water resources in the most efficient ways possible for the continuation of life," he said adding that water catchment regions such as conservation areas, forests and river basins had to be maintained.
The lawmaker said the government should periodically carry out normalization programs for conservation areas such as dams and rivers so that they would function well and be of maximum benefit.
In the meantime, the Meteorology and Geophysics Agency disclosed the dry season and droughts have been hitting many areas in Java since May 2008 while certain mountainous areas in the island were predicted to experience the effects of climate change as of June this year.
"In East Java and East Nusa Tenggara provinces, the rainy season was followed by the dry season in April. The dry season is now on in Central Java, West Java and other areas in Java," a spokesman for the agency, Sutamto, said in Jakarta.
Among the dry season-hit areas in Java is Garut district in West Java, where drought had since June 1, 2008, destroyed 329.28 tons of unhulled rice worth Rp921,984,000 from 277 hectares of rice fields in 31 villages.
