Govt to go ahead with reservoir construction<\/p>\n
Nana Rukmana, The Jakarta Post, Indramayu, West Java<\/p>\n
A senior government official said on Friday that the central
\ngovernment would build a large dam in Sumedang regency, called
\nJatigede dam, which would hopefully put an end to prolonged
\ndrought and flooding along Java's northern coast.<\/p>\n
\"The construction of the dam is the only solution to end these
\nproblems,\" said Basuki, the director general of Water Resources
\nat the Ministry of Settlement and Regional Infrastructure.<\/p>\n
Basuki was visiting Indramayu regency, which has been
\nexperiencing major floods. Basuki, who was accompanied by
\nlegislators Enggartiasto Lukita and Achmad Zahidin, handed over
\ngovernment aid to flood victims.<\/p>\n
Basuki said the House of Representative supported the plan to
\nbuild the dam.<\/p>\n
Basuki explained that construction of the dam was important,
\nowing that the absence of dams, as well as illegal logging, was
\nthe main cause of flooding along the north coast.<\/p>\n
Flooding occurs due to the lack of dams to hold all the
\nrainwater, he said. The dam could also store water from Cimanuk
\nRiver, which flows through the regency.<\/p>\n
The dam will be able to hold 650 million cubic meters of water
\nand supply water to 90,000 hectares of paddy fields in the area,
\nincluding in Indramayu, Cirebon, Majalengka, Subang and Sumedang
\nregencies.<\/p>\n
He said the construction of Jatigede dam would cost the state
\nRp 600 billion and take five years to complete. At least 6,000
\nhectares of land will be needed for the dam. The acquisition of
\nland owned by some 5,000 families in the area is not included in
\nthe figure. The government is currently trying to persuade the
\nfamilies to leave the area.<\/p>\n
Legislator Enggartiasto Lukita expressed regret that some
\nfamilies had rejected the government's compensation offer and
\nwere demanding more.<\/p>\n
Indramayu and Cirebon regents have also expressed support for
\nthe construction of the dam, saying it could help overcome
\ndrought and flood problems in the two regencies.<\/p>\n
Indramayu is one regency along the north coast that has been
\nhit by flooding this year. Last week floodwater inundated 106
\nsubdistricts. Three people were killed in the flooding and 23,000
\nhectares of paddy fields were submerged.<\/p>\n
Frequent flooding along the north coastal also disrupts
\ntraffic along the northern coast highway, which connects Jakarta
\nto other provinces on Java island.<\/p>\n
Besides Jatigede dam, the central government also plans to
\nbuild Cilalanang dam in Indramayu regency. Basuki said the
\ncentral government had earmarked Rp 30 billion for the
\nconstruction of the dam.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/govt-to-go-ahead-with-reservoir-construction-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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