In some area in highland of West Papua, during April to November, no sweet potatoes or taros to be consumed since its roots are rotten or empty – Jubi
Jayapura, Jubi – “During April to November we would be like this. Kwaning Kume! Rain is falling to flood our entirely farms. It was happening every year but this current ‘fall season’ is more serious than ever. Many people were died of lacking of foods,” Langda resident Ayub Balyo of Yahukimo Resident said six years ago.
Other local residents confirmed the statement of the priest who served for the local community at Langda Sub-district since 1991. According to residents met by Jubi in August 2009, during April to October, the rain is always falling every year in Langda. During this time, Langda’s soil would be terribly wet that caused the plants would not grow its roots such as in December to May. Moreover, the high intensity of rainfall also threatened many farms located at the mountain’s slope or steepness. If it was very wet, those farms could be eluded due to landslide. Langda residents usually call the period of April to October as the ‘fall season’.
In the ‘fall season’ like this, the residents would only consume some vegetables collected from the forest such as daun paku, tunas kelapa hutan, sayur lilin, labu siam, daun gedi or sweet potato leaves. No sweet potatoes or taros to be consumed since its roots are rotten or empty. At least they only eat baked young banana fruit.
The similar situation was reportedly happened in Puncak Regency. Three villages in Agandugume, namely Agamdugume, Tuput and Jiwot was threated to hunger due to hail falls for three days from 9 to 12 July.
The Puncak Regent Willem Wandik admitted the hail falls is almost happening every year, especially at long dry season. “It’s natural phenomenon. The hail falls usually happens in June to July,” Wandik said on Monday (13/7/2015), Antara News reported.
As earlier happened in Langda, Bomela and Seradala sub-districts six years ago, the hail falls in Puncak Regency, further said Wandik, destroyed the plants that can not be harvested. If it was prolonged dry season, the local residents usually move to Sinak or its surrounding areas that has not hail falls.
Meanwhile the Papua Governor Lukas Enembe admitted he has not yet received the report from the Puncak Regent related to the hunger endanger due to the fail sweet potato harvesting at Agamdugema Sub-district.
“This case is the responsible of local government, because this problem is often happened due to the natural phenomenon in Papua Central Highland area,” the Governor Enembe said in Jayapura on Monday (13/7/2015). He further explained he has not yet received the official report from the local regent.
Antara News reported about 10 thousand people at Puncak Regency are face the hunger due to fail sweet potato harvesting.
Currently the local residents in Agamdugema Sub-district only eat daun paku and labu cina. The extreme temperature between the day and night is not only happened in Puncak but also it happens in Wamena. The temperature at daylight could reach 25.3 Celsius degree while it reaches minus 11-Celsius degree at night. This natural phenomenon was happening until two weeks at the beginning of July in this year. (Victor Mambor/rom)
