190 residents demand dam repair

TANGERANG: Some 190 family heads in Tanjung Anom village, Mauk district, Tangerang regency, have demanded the maritime and fisheries agency repair an 800-meter dam along the coast near where they live as it not in conformity with the original proposal.

Village chief M. Ali told The Jakarta Post on Friday that the dam had originally been planned to be constructed to a length of 1,500 meters and a height of 8 meters, using large mountain boulders.

"But now the dam has only been built 800 meters long and 2 meters high using small river stones. The dam shakes every time waves hit it," he said. "I'm afraid the dam cannot prevent serious erosion from affecting the village."

Meanwhile village representative Mahfudin said that it was pointless for the regency administration to construct the dam using small river stones instead of large mountain boulders, which were much more expensive.

"If the regency uses only small river stones, it's a waste of money for it to spend up to Rp 2.5 billion on constructing the dam," he said. "If it's only like that, we residents could build it ourselves."

Mauk district secretary Purnama Wijaya said that the dam had worsened erosion along the village beach instead of preventing it. --JP