President Jokowi Asks Local Governments To Maximize Pumps And Reservoirs To Face El Nino

President Joko Widodo during a speech at the opening agenda of the National Coordination Meeting for Inflation Control at the Jakarta State Palace Building, Friday (14/6/2024). (ANTARA/Andi Firdaus).

JAKARTA - President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) advised regional heads to maximize the function of pumps and reservoirs to flow water to agricultural land, in an effort to respond to the impact of drought during the El Nino phenomenon.

"I will check in the field, so that when it is dry because El Nino will be in several areas, maybe in July it will start entering, August, September, October, we are ready, so production does not go down," said President Jokowi during a speech at the National Coordination Meeting for Inflation Control at the State Palace. Jakarta reported by ANTARA, Friday, June 14.

President Jokowi ordered the installation of 20 thousand pumps that connect the river flow with the agricultural land sector, especially rice.

The pump is managed by the TNI-Polri in various rice production areas affected by drought, one of which is sent to Central Java Province with 1,400 pumps.

Next, regarding the reservoir as part of the rice fields irrigation system, President Jokowi said that as many as 43 out of a total of 61 reservoir projects he had inaugurated in the last 10 years in various regions.

Some of the reservoir infrastructures that have been inaugurated are Tiu Sukung for NTB, Ameroro Reservoir in North Sulawesi, and Sepaku Semoi Reservoir in East Kalimantan.

"But this water must also be forwarded to the rice fields, there must be a primary channel, there must be secondary irrigation, there must be tertiary irrigation to the fields," said President Jokowi.

The presence of the reservoir is expected by the President to increase the rate of rice production to three times from the previous harvest only once.

The condition, said President Jokowi, is that the presence of the infrastructure must be managed in an integrated manner from the center to the regions.

"I ask that the central responsibility is to work by the central government, which is the obligation of the province to do, which is the district/city obligation to also work by districts/cities, so that we really work everything is integrated," said President Jokowi.