The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Wed, 12/17/2008 6:21 PM
Floodwaters are covering hundreds of hectares of rice fields in Bojonegoro, East Java, and Sambas, West Kalimantan, following incessant downpours over the past several days.
"We've got 107 hectares of 10-to-20-day-old padis in Sukorejo Village alone," village chief Budi Suprayitno told Antara news agency Wednesday. Flooding rose to 50 centimeters, wrecking some 60 houses, he said.
Local farmers are worried that the newly planted rice shoots will spoil if the flood stays for three days. "If the paddies are spoiled, the farmers have to replant and look for fertilizer again," Budi said.
Some 24 streams of the Bengawan Solo River, the largest river in Java, have been reported full or overflowing.
Separately, in Pipitteja village in Sambas, 250 kilometers north of Pontianak, West Kalimantan, water levels up to 150 centimeters have compromised many hectares of rice fields and riverbank settlements.
The floodwaters have also encroached on rubber plantations, dozens of houses, and two high schools, one villager Jar'in said Wednesday.
Students at Pipitteja's public junior high (SMPN 3) were forced to take their midsemester exams in the flooded school building.
Indonesia is currently in the rainy season and a number of provinces, including Aceh, Central Sulawesi, South Kalimantan and West Java have experienced significant flooding due to the increased rainfall. (dre)
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