Farmers threaten to demolish dam

Farmers threaten to demolish dam

PANGKEP, South Sulawesi: Hundreds of farmers in Minasatene and
Pangkajene subdistricts, Pangkep regency, South Sulawesi, have
threatened to demolish the Tabo-Tabo dam, which is about 60 km of
Makassar, the capital of South Sulawesi.

The farmers made their threats after neighboring farmers in
Tawarang, Labbakang subdistrict, and Batara, Bungoro subdistrict,
stopped the irrigation of their fields by redirecting the flow of
water to Minasatane and Pangkajene.

Farmers in the two subdistricts said they were ready to attack
the dam and its irrigation canal if local authorities did not
make efforts to solve the problem.

The lack of water has caused about 500 hectares to 1,000
hectares of ricefields in Minasate and Pangkajene to become
unproductive.

Abdul Rahman Mengewang, one of the Minasatene farmers, said
unless the government took measures against the Tawarang and
Batara village farmers responsible for disrupting the irrigation
flow, they would open the canal by force.

Farmers in Tawarang and Batara told The Jakarta Post recently
that they had diverted the canal to Minasatene and Pangkajene as
their farms were short of water.

Rahman Nur, 40, who controls the dam which irrigates 8,759
hectares of ricefields in Pangkep regency, disclosed that it was
the Minasatene and Pangkajene farmers' turn to receive water from
Tabo-Tabo Dam this year.

He pointed out that the water flow from the Tabo-Tabo dam had
decreased from 66.089 m3 per second to 54.093 m3 per second from
May to September. He said that the water supply to each
subdistrict during the rice planting season would have to be
taken in turns this year. (27/sdt)