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)