TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The construction of the East Java Semantok Dam, located specifically in Nganjuk Regency, is officially one of the national strategic projects under the Joko “Jokowi” Widodo - Ma’ruf Amin administration that saw a cost overrun from the initial Rp805 billion to Rp2.5 trillion as it was introduced today.

The rising cost was explained by the Head of the Brantas River Basin Center (BBWS) Haeruddin C. Maddi on December 20.

“It is due to the changes in the foundation structure and heap volume,” said Maddi on Tuesday. “In general terms, that was what caused the cost to rise.”

President Jokowi officially inaugurated the dam and asserted its role in supporting agricultural production in the future. “If in normal days harvest only comes once or twice. [In the future] harvests can be twice and three times,” said the President today.

In inaugurating the dam that started construction in 2017, the President commented on the cost of the dam was “Not an insignificant amount of money.”

The cost increase happened because of the change in the type of stockpile which also increased its volume. Costs also increased due to changes in the location of the stone quarry and adjustments to the relocation of provincial roads.

Citing the official website of the Committee for the Acceleration of Priority Infrastructure Provision (KPPIP), the Semantok Dam was initially set to have a total investment of Rp805 billion, sourced from the State Budget before the cost overrun. The dam is planned to have a capacity of 17.63 cubic meters and can irrigate 1,554 hectares of land and generate 1.01 Megawatts of electricity.

FAJAR PEBRIANTO

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