Slamet Susanto, The Jakarta Post, Bantul, Yogyakarta
While rain has started falling in a number of regions throughout Indonesia, Bantul regency is still mired in a long drought.
Residents there are struggling to get enough drinking water, while hundreds of hectares of paddy fields are being neglected.
Wells have dried up in six of the most severely affected villages: Terong, Jatimulyo, Munthuk, Mangunan, Temuwuh and Dlingo. All are in Dlinggo district.
Residents say the PDAM water company, which is owned by the local administration, has also stopped supplying water.
The residents have to rely on traders, who sell the water at Rp 100,000 (US$10.52) per tank truck.
"Aside from its expensiveness, we still have to line up too. We order now and the water will be sent four or five days later," said Sumarni, a resident of Terong village.
Sumarni said lack of water was especially difficult since she and her neighbors were busy completing the reconstruction of their houses devastated by the earthquake that struck the area on May 27 last year.
"If things get worse, we're afraid funds set aside for reconstruction will have to be channeled into buying water. We can't do anything about it it ... we are badly in need of water," she said.
Prawiro, another resident of Terong, said the residents hoped the government would be willing to provide water. He said a proposal for assistance had been sent to the government, but no response had come yet.
The long drought has dried up the irrigation networks in about 500 hectares of two-month-old paddy fields in Sanden, Keretek and Bambanglipuro. The rice plants are increasingly turning yellow.
Other farmers have bought water pumps, but this increases their costs.
"Running the water pumps has forced us to spend more to supply water for the plants," said Junianto, a resident of Tegalrejo in Sanden district. "I have been forced to spend Rp 100,000.
"Farmers are always in a losing position," he added.
Fertilizer is expensive and other supporting products are costly as well, but by the time they sell their agricultural products, prices fall," he said.
The rice plants are also affected by the fact that irrigation systems in Bantul were devastated by the earthquake. It will take a long time to repair them, Junianto added.
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