Dam project in Serang

Dam project in Serang

The construction of the Pamayaran dam in the Serang regency, West Java, was enthusiastically welcomed by the local communities. We should appreciate and praise the government contractors for their success in acquiring the people's land with acceptable compensation, and the people for realizing the importance of the project.

In fact the people hoped that they would be involved in the project, be able to work for the contractor and that the facilities such as electricity, drinking water etc. would be improved.

Before the construction of the dam started the road in our village was in good condition thanks to retired Maj. Gen. Surjadi Sudirdja (now the Jakarta Governor) who took the initiative to rejuvenate the infra-structure. Hence the community achieved a better standard of living, with agricultural products being easily transported to the towns like Serang, Rangkas Bitung and Pandegelang. Commuting to those towns was also made very much easier with the improvement of the road. But now that is no longer the case. Things have changed for the worse. The people have to rely on train services to commute to the surrounding towns because the road has been badly damaged.

PT Adhi Karya is using our road for operating their heavy vehicles, day and night, because this road provides the only access to the project site. Trucks carrying sand pass along the road all the time. Our road is now in a miserable condition, quite muddy during the rainy season, and full of dirt when the weather is dry. The villagers suffer a lot from this situation.

The elderly members of the village thought that PT Adhi Karya would repair the road because it has used it for the project. But they were wrong. The project is not yet complete although the construction work started three years ago. Who is really responsible for the repair of the road? We know that the village road was previously restored by the Serang administration. Can PT Adhi Karya escape from their responsibility to repair the road? What can the Serang regency do in this case?

We are obviously not opposed to the project. But what can we do with our damaged road? We are loyal citizens. We pay all our taxes. But, please, Minister of Public Works, help us get out of this misery. We also wish to enjoy the result of the development. We hope the decision makers will pay due attention to our fate.

ADI SUMANTO

Tangerang, West Java