Jokowi Orders Installation of 20,000 Water Pumps to Prevent Drought
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Editor
14 June 2024 15:13 WIB
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - President Joko Widodo or Jokowi said he had ordered the Ministry of Public Works and Housing and the Indonesian Military to install some 20,000 water pumps across the archipelago and prioritize them in rice-producing and drought-prone regions.
“The water pumps from the river should be placed at the top to irrigate the rice fields, be it large, medium, or small rivers. We must use the water, don't let it go to the sea,” he said during a meeting on inflation at the Jakarta State Palace on Friday, June 14.
The former Jakarta governor said the inter-ministerial cooperation had been underway for three months. Some of the pumps have been distributed to regional military commands.
He pinned hopes that this would prepare people for the El Nino-induced drought in July, August, and September.
“So [rice] production will not decline. That's why the pumps are installed," he said.
The state head also cited United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres' remarks in a keynote speech in New York earlier this month that the world is headed for ‘climate hell’ and that the global temperature will reach its highest point. He highlighted the impact of this climate on food.
“Be careful. We have experienced a heatwave in the past year. In India, [air temperature] even reached 50 degrees [Celsius] and 45.8 degrees in Myanmar, it’s scorching hot,” Jokowi said.
DANIEL A. FAJRI
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