La Nina may cause droughts in four provinces: BNPB
19 October 2020
Published by https://www.thejakartapost.com/
INDONESIA – The National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) has issued an early warning for extreme weather triggered by the La Nina weather phenomenon, which could cause meteorological droughts in four provinces.
Citing a weather prediction from the Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG), the four provinces predicted to see lower than normal rainfall are East Nusa Tenggara (NTT), West Nusa Tenggara (NTB), Maluku, and South Sulawesi, BNPB’s prevention division deputy head Lilik Kurniawan said.
“We have sent an early warning to the respective provinces’ disaster mitigation agencies (BPBD),” he said on Monday as reported by Kompas.com.
Lilik said that BNPB had asked regional mitigation agencies (BPBD) in four provinces to take several courses of action, such as monitoring forest and land fire risks in their regions and preparing water supplies.
“[We asked them] to prepare water tanks and water pumps in districts with the highest risks of drought,” he said.
The BNPB also asked regional administrations to start water saving campaigns and advise residents to harvest rainwater and reuse household waste water.
The agency has also asked local stakeholders to excavate new wells and set up a water distribution system.
“We also asked the BPBD to prepare equipment to extinguish forest fires,” Lilik said.
“We have informed the public [about forest fire risks] and set up warning signs to prevent land clearance using the slash-and-burn technique,” he said.
The agency has also cooperated with the Indonesian Military and the National Police to prevent fires. The BNPB plans to activate command posts and call centers to mitigate forest and land fire risks, he added. (nal)
