President Jokowi Visits Flood-affected Residents in C. Java

President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo inspects the evacuation shelter for flood-affected residents at vocational high school SMK Ganesa Demak, Demak regency, Central Java province, Friday (03/22). (Photo by: BPMI of Presidential Secretariat)

President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo Friday (03/22) inspected the evacuation shelter for flood-affected residents at Ganesa Demak Vocational High School, Demak regency, Central Java province.

According to the President, several measures were required to mitigate the floods that affected numerous sub-districts in the regency.

The heavy rainfall caused several embankments in the region to break and flood the residents’ houses, but the President mentioned that repairs to the embankments in the area have been completed.

“Last night, the breached embankment wall, which spanned 16 meters wide, was successfully sealed off by 1 o’clock after four consecutive days of round-the-clock work,” the President said.

In addition to repairing embankments, the Government has also utilized weather modification technology (TMC) to mitigate the impact of extreme rainfall in the regency and its surrounding area.

“We hope the cloud seeding operations conducted by TMC have effectively directed cloud towards the sea to reduce rainfall in the region,” he said.

Apart from that, the Government also continues to use dewatering pump to reduce waterlogging. The President revealed that the area inundated with water of 2 meters had receded to around 50 centimeters.

“The water level has decreased from 2 meters, as reported earlier, to almost half a meter. However, it still hampers residents’ activities. Therefore, we will continue pumping the water,” he added.

The President also highlighted the significance of safeguarding land and rivers from sedimentation since it will significantly contribute to the heightened risk of flooding.

“All reservoirs and rivers invariably encounter sedimentation issues. Why does this occur? It is primarily due to unimpeded deforestation at the upstream, resulting in numerous problems. It is either flash floods or regular flooding; the issue persists,” he stressed.

Meanwhile, regarding buildings damaged by the disaster, President Jokowi emphasized that the Government through the Ministry of Public Works and Public Housing (PUPR) and the National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB) will carry out inspection and rehabilitation efforts. This also includes the provision of plant seeds from the Ministry of Agriculture (Kementan) to restore the affected environment.

“Ministry of PUPR will later coordinate with the BNPB to inspect the affected areas, provide additional seeds from Ministry of Agriculture to farmers whose plants have been damaged,” the President remarked. (TGH/UN) (RIF/RAS/LW)