TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Public Works and Public Housing (PUPR) Minister Basuki Hadimuljono noted in a statement on Saturday that the construction of four dams in East Java will be completed this year.

The PUPR minister drew attention to the quite high water supply in Indonesia, at 2.7 trillion cubic meters per year.

Of this volume, 691 billion cubic meters of water can be utilized annually, of which 222 billion cubic meters had been pumped into households, livestock, fisheries, and irrigation, among other things, to meet the demand.

However, Hadimuljono highlighted the need for several water reservoirs or dams in the country to collect water during the rainy season and utilize it during the dry season.

The four dams under construction in East Java are Tukul Dam in Pacitan District, Tugu Dam in Trenggalek District, Bendo Dam in Ponorogo, and Gongseng Dam in Bojonegoro.

In fact, President Joko Widodo had inaugurated Tukul Dam on February 14, 2021.

Tugu Dam was built in January 2014 by contractor PT WIijaya Karya at a total value of Rp1.9 trillion. Work on the dam, with a capacity of 9.3 million cubic meters, had reached 88.54-percent completion.

Bendo Dam will have a capacity to hold 43.11 million cubic meters of water. PT Wijaya Karya, PT Hutama Karya, and PT Nindya Karya are in charge of development of the dam, with a total contract value of Rp1.06 trillion, the construction work for which had reached 91.26-percent completion.

The work to construct Gongseng Dam, which began in 2013, at a value of Rp569.04 billion, has reached 86.85-percent completion.

Moreover, the ministry is constructing the Semantok Dam in Nganjuk, East Java Province, with a capacity of 32.6 million cubic meters. Work on the dam has reached 66.73-percent completion, and it is targeted to be ready in 2022.

Read: West Java's Cibeet and Cijurey Dams Set to Reduce Flood Risk

ANTARA