http://www.thejakartapost.com/detailnational.asp?fileid=20060616.G02&irec=3
Officials say no starvation in Sikka Yemris Fointuna, The Jakarta Post, Kupang The government is playing down a food crisis in Sikka regency, East Nusa Tenggara, saying it has found no indications of starvation among residents. A special team from the Coordinating Ministry for the People's Welfare was deployed to six of 10 districts reportedly most badly affected by a food crisis in the regency as a result of a harvest failure. The team found many residents had begun eating "alternative foods" in the past month due to shortages of traditional staples, but no starvation. "What is happening is that there is a threat of a food crisis, but no starvation disaster like in Africa. In the field, the people are healthy and the children are still having fun. "There is a need for future action to prevent the threat of a food crisis from spreading," team leader Bintang Susmanto said late Wednesday. He said his team had made several short-term recommendations to deal with the problem, including the expanded distribution of government rice. "At least 355 tons of rice has been distributed, and 108 tons more will be delivered soon. In addition, the World Food Program has expressed its willingness to assist with 9,280 tons of rice over the next eight months," he said. In the long term, he said the team was encouraging residents to plant alternative crops to help them survive in the event of future harvest failures as a result of insufficient rain or pest attacks. He said other programs to assist residents included ongoing projects like the distribution of rice and Rp 100,000 (US$1.05) in monthly cash aid for the poor. When asked about the findings, Sikka Regent Aleks Longginus said Thursday he did not want to become embroiled in a dispute with the team. However, he pointed out that almost half of the residents in the regency had been forced to turn to alternative foods because of the lack of availability of rice. "The fact is, many residents have started eating putak (flour made from a plant) and tubers they collect in the forest," he said. He hoped the central government would continue monitoring the critical situation, especially with a drought forecast for the area, which would prevent residents from planting alternative food crops as recommended by the team. According to data from the regency's social affairs office, at least 13,000 families are at risk of starvation and more than 35,000 families are experiencing a food crisis in Sikka's 10 districts. This is not the first such crisis in the poverty-stricken province. In 2005, an acute food crisis was blamed for an outbreak of malnutrition and marasmus cases that killed at least 32 children over six months. [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> Yahoo! Groups gets a make over. See the new email design. http://us.click.yahoo.com/U0DZdC/lOaOAA/E2hLAA/BRUplB/TM --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> *************************************************************************** Berdikusi dg Santun & Elegan, dg Semangat Persahabatan. Menuju Indonesia yg Lebih Baik, in Commonality & Shared Destiny. http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ppiindia *************************************************************************** __________________________________________________________________________ Mohon Perhatian: 1. Harap tdk. memposting/reply yg menyinggung SARA (kecuali sbg otokritik) 2. Pesan yg akan direply harap dihapus, kecuali yg akan dikomentari. 3. Reading only, http://dear.to/ppi 4. Satu email perhari: [EMAIL PROTECTED] 5. No-email/web only: [EMAIL PROTECTED] 6. kembali menerima email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ppiindia/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
