Bangka Regent Orders Village Heads To The Field To Check The Availability Of Clean Water For Residents Affected By Drought

Illustration. A resident crossed a rice field that was hit by drought due to dryness in Cibiuk Kaler Village, Garut Regency, West Java, Sunday (4-08-2019). (Feri Purnama)

BABEL - Bangka Regent Mulkan asked all village heads (kades) in his area to actively monitor the availability of clean water for residents affected by drought due to the 2023 dry season.

"I ask the village head, the village head to actively monitor the availability of clean water for residents. If it is known that someone has a shortage of clean water, immediately report to BPBD so that they can immediately get clean water supplies," said Mulkan in Sungailiat, Bangka, Bangka Islands Province. Belitung (Babel), Tuesday 19 September, confiscated by Antara.

The Regent said clean water for residents is one of the primary needs that must be met. In the dry season as it is now, he continued, it will not only have an impact on forest and land fires (karhutla), but also on clean water sources experiencing drought.

"We have provided a number of cars from PDAM which can be used at any time to supply clean water to residents in need," said Mulkan.

He acknowledged that the dry season that is happening now has caused residents in a number of places to start to lack clean water.

For other residents who are provided clean water from wells or from other water sources, he continued, they can share it with neighbors and other residents. Conditions like now create people to share, work together.

"We must work together so that we can alleviate the problems faced by fellow residents," he said.

Meanwhile, the Head of the Regional Disaster Management Agency (BPBD) of Bangka Regency, Ridwan, said that his party together with the TNI and Polri had distributed clean water to residents in need, including water supplies to places of worship and schools.

"We are always on standby 24 hours to receive reports and provide assistance such as handling forest fires, including clean water distribution services for the community," said Ridwan.