JAKARTA. Around 3,500 hectares of agricultural land in 10 districts across Cirebon regency in West Java are at risk of crop failure following torrential rain that has hit the area in the past week.

Cirebon’s Husbandry, Plantation and Agricultural Agency head, Ali Effendi, said on Tuesday that around 3,000 farmers had been affected, adding that the natural disaster had caused billions of rupiah worth of financial losses.

Of the damaged fields, 3,400 hectares are rice fields, while the remaining 100 hectares are shallot fields.

 “The heavy rain has caused the Cisanggarung and Jonggol rivers to overflow. The flooding has inundated all the plants,” Ali told The Jakarta Post on Tuesday.

Cirebon regency is one of West Java’s rice producers alongside Indramayu, Karawang and Subang regencies.

Gegesik district is the worst-hit area with 1,000 hectares of damaged rice fields, followed by Kapetakan, Kaliwedi and Suranenggala districts. “For shallots, the worst-struck area is Losari district, which has 100 hectares of damaged fields,” Ali added.

Maman, a farmer in Mundu district, said he was facing a potential loss of Rp 4 million (US$329) due to the floods. “My rice fields are severely damaged,” said Maman, who owns 7,000 square meters of rice fields.

Meanwhile, the floods have also disrupted Java’s northern coastal highway (Pantura), where floodwater continued to inundate several spots, including Indramayu and Subang, Antara news agency reported on Tuesday.

Motorists have been advised to take Java’s southern route to avoid the flooded road.

 “All motorists should take the situation seriously. We call on motorists to take the southern route, entering from the Cipularang toll road,” Djoko Murjanto, director general for highways at the Public Works Ministry, said as quoted by Antara.

The incessant rain has flooded the Cirebon-Jakarta route to depths of between 50 and 100 centimeters. High tides and the overflowing of the Cimanuk River have worsened the situation.

Djoko said there were still many motorists who insisted on taking the Pantura, thus causing severe congestion.

In Semarang, flash floods have forced dozens of schools to close. Taufik Hidayat, head of elementary and high school education at the Semarang Education Agency, said that 38 elementary schools in North Sumatra had been inundated by floodwater.

Meanwhile in North Sulawesi, the authorities plan to call off the search for those still missing following landslides in Tambulinas, Tinoor subdistrict, Tomohon.

However, according to Military Command VII/Wirabuana commander Maj. Gen. Bachtiar, the military and police would restart the search if they received reports on any of the missing persons.

Massive flash floods and landslides, which struck several parts of North Sulawesi on Wednesday, have claimed at least 18 lives and left thousands displaced.

Among the areas affected are Manado, Tomohon, Minahasa, North Minahasa, Southeast Minahasa and the islands of Sangihe and Sitaro.

Separately, the Palu city administration in Central Sulawesi has deployed four excavators to dredge sediment to deepen the Kawatuna River, which separates east and west Palu, in an effort to prevent flooding in the area.

 “We aim to dredge 500 cubic meters of sediment out of the river. So far, 50 cubic meters have been dredged,” said Palu’s Public Works Agency head, Fardirar Djoni. (Nana Rukmana, Suherdjoko, Ruslan Sangadji)

Editor: Asnil Amri