Dry Kerontang Impact Of El Nino, Acting Walkot Yogyakarta Invites ASN Istisqa Prayers To Ask For Rain

Acting Mayor (Pj) of Yogyakarta Singgih Raharjo. (Between)

YOGYAKARTA - Dry Kemarau due to El Nino is still hitting Indonesian territory, including the city of Yogyakarta. In addition to the act of minimizing the impact, efforts to ask for prayers so that it will immediately rain are also carried out by many people.

This time the Acting Mayor (Pj) of Yogyakarta Singgih Raharjo invited the ranks of the state civil apparatus (ASN) in his area to carry out the Istisqa prayer with religious leaders to ask for rain.

"This is one of the efforts, because the drought that hit the city of Yogyakarta has been around for a long time. This can also pose several fire risks and so on," said Singgih when met at the Yogyakarta City Hall Office, Wednesday, October 11, quoted by Antara.

The Istisqa prayer involving ASN and religious leaders in the city of Yogyakarta will be held at the Yogyakarta City Hall Field in mid or late October 2023, facilitated by the Yogyakarta City Ministry of Religion.

Despite the appeal, Singgih said that the Istisqa prayer was one of a series of efforts by the Yogyakarta City Government to deal with dryness.

With this effort, he hopes that the drought that triggers drought in his area will not continue for a long time.

"If this is granted, the drought will not be prolonged, so that plants can be more fertile, fields can return to green, farmers will also be happy," he said.

Head of the Yogyakarta City Ministry of Religion Office, Nadhif, said that it was time for the Istisqa prayer to be carried out by Muslims considering that several areas in the Special Region of Yogyakarta had a drought emergency status.

A number of areas in DIY have declared drought emergencys, namely Bantul, Gunungkidul, Sleman, and Kulon Progo regencies.

"We should have done it. We from the Ministry of Religion of Yogyakarta facilitate the Istisqa prayer, which God willing, we will carry out on the 20th or 27th (October) to be precise on Friday afternoon," he said.

According to Nadhif, the Istisqa prayer at the Yogyakarta City Hall Field will be held in the momentum of commemorating National Santri Day led by the Chairman of the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) DIY KH Machasin.

"Hopefully all of our ASN after the congregational prayer can be continued with the Istiqa prayer. We will also involve Islamic organizations as well as Islamic religious figures," said Nadhif.