4 Dams in National Strategic Projects to Continue Construction amid Pandemic

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo in his latest Instagram post on Thursday announced that the construction of national strategic projects will continue to be worked on despite being in the middle of a Covid-19 pandemic.

According to the caption in his post, some of the projects he refers to are the constructions of dams that will be completed this month in Lampung, East Java, South Sulawesi, and West Java. 

Citing the records from the Public Works and Housing Ministry (PUPR), the four dams that are being constructed are considered national strategic projects as mentioned under the President’s Regulation No. 109/2020 which supply irrigation water for local farmers, public water supply, and flood control. 

The first dam is located in the Lampung Province, Wey Sekampung Dam, that can accommodate up to 68 million cubic meters of water that is designed to be able to irrigate 72,707 hectares of irrigation land and 17,334 hectares of rubia extension irrigation areas. 

The second and third dams are Bendo Dam in Ponorogo, East Java, and Paselloreng Dam in South Suawesi’s Wajo Regency. Both are designed to broaden irrigation services up to 7,800 hectares while the latter is able to accommodate 138 million cubic meters of water. 

The fourth dam is located in West Java’s Kuningan Regency which is designed to accommodate 25.9 million cubic meters of water and supply 3,000 hectares of land in West Java’s northern parts. 

Moreover, President Jokowi said the dams will help Indonesia achieve water and national food resilience but also noted that they have potential to become hydro power plants. 

Read: Public Works Ministry Says 4 Dams are Gifts for Indonesia on Independence Day

DEWI NURITA