Coordinating Minister For Human Development And Culture: Districts In Central Papua And Papua Mountains Are Prone To Scarcity Of Food Materials

Coordinating Minister for Human Development and Culture (Menko PMK) Muhadjir Effendy. (ANTARA/HO-Kemenko PMK)

Coordinating Minister for Human Development and Culture (Menko PMK) Muhadjir Effendy said the majority of districts in two provinces in Papua are prone to food scarcity.

"Yes, almost all districts in two provinces, namely the (Papua) Mountains Province and Central Papua Province, all of which have the potential for scarcity of food," said Muhadjir as quoted by ANTARA, Tuesday, October 25.

For Papua, the Mountains consists of eight districts and 252 districts. Meanwhile, Central Papua Province consists of eight districts and 130 districts.

Of all the districts in the two provinces, said Muhadjir, almost 70 percent have the potential to experience food scarcity.

Untuk dua kasus yang terjadi di Kabupaten Puncak dan Kabupaten Yakuhimo, diakibatkan cuaca ekstrem dewung snow. Snow tersebut membuat umbi-umbian yang menjadi makanan pusat masyarakat setempat men decay dan akibatnya gagal panen.

"When it's snow season, then it goes down to the snow reservoirs which make their various staple foods in the form of tubers and vegetables rot," said Muhadjir.

To anticipate the shortage of medium-term food, the government will build food barns in districts that are priority handling.

Especially for districts that already have an air runway, a large food warehouse will be built. Thus, if there is a shortage in an area or district, it can be sent as soon as possible.

"Later on for districts that are not (there is an airport) we will build a small one so that food supply if in an urgent situation like this is done quickly," he said.