Facing El Nino, Minister Of Home Affairs Tito Explains Anticipation Steps Can Be Taken By Local Governments

Minister of Home Affairs (Mendagri) Muhammad Tito Karnavian. (doc. Ministry of Home Affairs)

JAKARTA - Minister of Home Affairs (Mendagri) Tito Karnavian explained a number of anticipatory steps that local governments (Pemda) can take in the face of the threat of the El Nino climate phenomenon which is predicted to peak in September 2023.

"What we recorded was dry from August to October. The average peak was in September," said Tito at the Sasana Bhakti Praja Building, Ministry of Home Affairs, Jakarta, Monday, July 31, which was confiscated by Antara.

To deal with the El Nino phenomenon, President Joko Widodo has held a limited meeting since two weeks ago so that local governments can face the peak of the dry season.

He asked the local government to prepare water reserves on water reservoirs to reservoirs by coordinating with the Regional Leadership Coordination Forum (Forkopimda) and the central government in preparing water reserves, both drinking water and agriculture.

"Don't let the harvest fail and affect our food security," he said.

He appealed to local governments to also be able to modify the weather itself in collaboration with the TNI.

According to Tito, if an area is prone to drought, the local government together with the TNI can spray salt.

Not only that, the Minister of Home Affairs said that there were other alternatives offered by the Minister of Transportation Budi Karya Sumadi who had prepared a private company that had been trained by the TNI to carry out weather modifications.

The private company has entered the Electronic Catalog (e-Katalog) developed by the Government Goods/Services Procurement Policy Institute (LKPP).

The private company no longer needs to go through an auction mechanism and can directly use the budget in the APBD, such as unexpected spending.

Nevertheless, Tito appealed to the local government to consult with law enforcement officials to use the budget.

Tito explained that the use of the APBD is important in order to modify the weather so that there is no food vulnerability which results in price increases or inflation.

"If you are hesitant about unexpected shopping, please consult with the prosecutor's office and law enforcement officials, especially the National Police so that they don't get the wrong perception of being suspects. CSR can be used," concluded Tito.

For information, El Nino is a phenomenon of sea level temperature heating (SML) above normal conditions that occur in the central Pacific Ocean. This SML warming increases the potential for cloud growth in the central Pacific Ocean and reduces rainfall in Indonesian territory.

In short, El Nino triggered drought conditions for Indonesian territory in general.