Bandarlampung, Ekuatorial – Shrimp and fish farmers lost millions of rupiah after their ponds were inundated by two meters of flood, said a local villager, on Monday (23/2), in South Lampung.
“Flood hit ponds as a result of Sekampung river, which is located between South Lampung and East Lampung, overflowed,” said Guntoro, village secretary of Berudung, South Lampung. “At least 121 hectares of ponds were inundated by floods and by the time the water had subsided, shrimps and three-four years old milkfishes poured out of the ponds.”
He calculated Rp 10 million (US$ 773) per hectares of loss assuming Rp 120,000 (US$ 9) per kilogram for shrimp and Rp 15,000 (US$ 1) per kilogram for milkfish.
“We should have been able to harvest within three to four months ahead but floods just destroyed that plan. We have to repeat again,” he said adding that they have tried to anticipate the five years cycle flood by building dikes around the ponds. “I guess it did not work.”
Priyanto Putro, head of South Lampung Forestry agency, said that 300 hectares of damaged mangroves contributed to the flood resulted to farming failure. Putro said that they had given time for farmers to stop their activities in protected forest areas due to increasing floods. “We have given time for them to harvest their ponds however we hope that they would leave the site voluntarily,” he said adding that they had been socializing on the instruction for the past two months.
However, the move received mixed reactions from farmers, some would supported the idea and others protested on the plan. Sultan, head of Berudung village, said that him along with 70 other farmers insisted that they would not move from the site as they have been farming for decades. “It’s our stomach issue [livelihood]. We will not accept any claims on these areas. We will defend it until our last blood,” he said firmly. Eni Muslihah