President instructs ministers to anticipate drought this year

The Jakarta Post

JAKARTA (Antara): President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono instructed Monday his ministers to anticipate possible drought by the end of this year due to El Nino phenomenon.

"President has asked Vice President (Jusuf Kalla) to take anticipatory measures on possible drought," Coordinating Minister for the Economy Boediono said after a limited cabinet meeting in the Presidential Office.

The anticipatory measures would include man-made rain, he added.

"This must be prepared right now," he said.

Agriculture Minister Anton Apriyantono said anotheranticipatory measure would be storing water as much as possible in dams before the drought hit the country.