TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo inaugurated the Bintang Bano Dam located in West Sumbawa, East Nusa Tenggara (NTT). The dam cost a total of IDR 1.44 trillion to construct. According to Jokowi, the inauguration marks the 29th completed dam project since 2015.

"God willing, by the end of 2024 there will be a total of 57 dams completed across the nation," said the President in his acceptance speech during the inauguration event on Friday, January 14, 2022.

Jokowi said that dams are built to support and enable food resilience, food independence, and food sovereignty, which he asserted can only be achieved if every Indonesian province has water source.

"The key is in the water source, and it will only be realized if we have an abundance of these dams," he said.

The Bintang Bano dam construction was started in 2015 at a cost of IDR 1.44 trillion. The dam is one of six dams constructed in West Nusa Tenggara Province. Two dams have been constructed and inaugurated in 2018, namely the Tanju Dam and the Mila Dam in Dompu.

The Bintang Bano Dam has a capacity of 76 million cubic meters, with an inundation area of 256 hectares, and can irrigate 6,700 hectares of rice fields.

EGI ADYATAMA