Many people in South Pyongan Province are frustrated over the lack of response from the government to the severe damage to rice paddies and fields in some parts of the province due to recent torrential rains.
A source in South Pyongan Province told Daily NK on Tuesday that farm workers are at a loss with all the paddies and fields in Pyongwon, Mundok and Sukchon counties flooded by recent rains. He said a command team assigned to the province from the central government’s emergency and disaster management committee is at the scene, but they have taken no measures, and it is not entirely clear what they are doing.
South Pyongan Province declared a state of emergency due to the torrential rains and put local government bodies, enterprises, farms and hospitals on 24-hour standby, but the authorities have reportedly been helpless, presenting no proper plans to deal with the damage.
“Farmland and cornfields in lowland areas of South Pyongan Province are all underwater, and with rains continuing as if the sky sprang a leak, there’s no way for the water to drain, so they’ve been unable to find a solution,” said the source. “They need to take measures fast because things will get tough again if this year’s farming is ruined. But there’s nothing they can do with the flooded land.”
According to the source, South Pyongan Province officials met with the command team sent by the central government’s emergency and disaster management committee at the scene of the flooding on July 1. The team reported to Pyongyang that the rain water carried away planted rice seedlings and broke leevies of reservoirs, and that officials need to mobilize the army to deal with the situation because local residents cannot handle it on their own.
Farm managers and workers are reportedly clamoring that if the authorities keep delaying, the roots of the rice and corn will rot, something that would ruin this year’s farming. The authorities need to quickly drain the water and deal with the situation, they say.
Many residents of the province are reportedly frustrated by not only the damaged farmland, but also by injuries and deaths caused after flooding and winds collapsed or deroofed clay houses at the foot of mountains.
Medical teams dispatched to the scene quickly brought victims to the hospital, but four have already died and about 10 have suffered injuries of varying severity.
“People have been mobilized to repair the clay homes that collapsed, and the people who lost their homes are temporarily staying in inns or dormitories,” said the source. “But in the chaos, they couldn’t even bring a single spoon with them, so neighborhood watch units are supporting them.”
Translated by David Black. Edited by Robert Lauler.
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