Set 9 Regencies/Cities In NTB For Drought Disaster Preparedness, Gencar BPBD. Channel Clean Water
NTB - The Regional Disaster Management Agency (BPBD) of West Nusa Tenggara (NTB) has declared the status of nine out of 10 districts and cities on alert for drought.Head of BPBD NTB Sahdan said the status of two of them had been upgraded to an emergency response to drought, namely East Lombok and Sumbawa Regencies."Perhaps, it will also follow Bima Regency and Central Lombok. It looks like that. If it doesn't rain for the next few days, it will definitely follow, because the conditions are extraordinary," said Sahdan in Mataram, Antara, Wednesday, September 7.So far, the number of villages affected by the drought is 296 villages from 74 sub-districts. Meanwhile, the number of affected residents is 500 thousand people from 100,000 families (KK)."So, of the nine regencies and cities, the total affected areas are 74 sub-districts and 296 villages. Meanwhile, the total number of families is 100 thousand and 500 thousand people," he said.To overcome the impact of the drought, the NTB BPBD together with districts and cities have taken steps, one of which is by distributing clean water to areas affected by drought."The handling is now only in the short term, such as the distribution of clean water. The amount distributed varies. Now East Lombok is not only the BPBD that has dropped, but also the local Social Service. What is clear is that the handling of this drought should not cause people to suffer, because there is a lot of water needs," said the former Head of the NTB PUPR Service.Asked whether any regions have used unexpected expenditure funds (BTT), given the lack of budget available due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Sahdan said that in NTB only two regions used, namely East Lombok and Sumbawa Regencies."West Lombok and others have not yet determined. So, they are not allowed to use the funds. There is assistance from other parties, because talking about humanity must be like that. BPBD helps, even the NTB Social Service distributes water every day, usually 15 thousand liters to three clean water tanks," continued Sahdan.Especially for East Lombok Regency as the worst affected area, Sahdan continued, has a new policy, where water distribution is carried out by the sub-district."Later, the sub-district government claims to pay it to BPBD. That's in East Lombok," he said.According to him, the distribution of water to residents is used for bathing, drinking and cooking purposes, one day there are 1.2 cubic meters of water that are distributed, but that cannot be fulfilled."Therefore, now the distribution of water is only for drinking and cooking. For bathing and others, maybe one person in 20 liters is limited, that's a lot too," said Sahdan.Sahdan admitted that currently his party is constrained by the increase in the price of fuel oil (BBM), because it affects the operational burden, especially clean water tanker trucks."The increase in fuel is also heavy, because the price of fuel needs is high and affects the volume we get, so it affects clean water distribution services," he said.