REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, MANGGAR -- The East Belitung administration has estimated that material losses inflicted by flooding that hit the district recently has reached Rp338 billion.

"We do not have the exact figure, but our estimate is that the material losses have reached Rp338 billion," Yuslih Ihza, East Belitung District Head, said here recently.

Losses from destruction of infrastructure were estimated at Rp300.7 billion, while losses from agricultural and animal husbandry were worth over Rp16 billion.

He planned to seek assistance from the central and provincial governments to repair the affected infrastructure particularly.

"It happens that this Thursday, there will be a meeting with President Joko Widodo, the Governor of BI (central bank), and the Public Works and Public Housing Minister. I think this is the right momentum to talk about infrastructure that was destroyed or damaged by the disaster," he stated.

The Bangka Belitung chapter of Bank Indonesia (BI) has predicted that flooding and extreme climate that affected the province lately could cause economic sluggishness.

The flooding in East Belitung has affected food stock and damaged infrastructure, which consequently disturbed logistic supply and distribution, Bayu Martanto, head of BI Office in Bangka Belitung, noted.

Also read: BPBD deploys helicopter to evacuate Belitung flood victims

Paddy harvest failure due to flooding in Belitung and East Belitung Districts would also affect food supply, he added.

The local BI office has taken several measures to guarantee food supply and stabilize the economy.

Meanwhile, in Tulungagung, East Java Governor Soekarwo said that salt crisis in the province currently is due to bad weather that has cause a decrease in salt production.

"Hence, salt production in East Java is 174 thousand tons per month during sunlight. But lately, there has been more rains, and the weather is cloudy. Salt production has dropped to 123 thousand tons," Soekarwo revealed.

Salt quality has also decreased because of rains.

He claimed that in this case, he felt helpless because it was caused by nature.

Indonesia has been facing a salt scarcity over the last three weeks due to bad weather.

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