Govt to improve Katulampa dam

BOGOR: The government plans to rehabilitate the Katulampa dam on the Ciliwung river near Bogor with a view to improving its ability to irrigate rice fields in the area and as an improved flood warning system for the city.

Minister of Resettlement and Regional Infrastructure Soenarno told the media about the plan when he visited the dam last Friday, a media release from the ministry announced.

"We need to rehabilitate it to anticipate the coming drought season, during which the rice fields around the dam might be affected," he said, adding that, when the rainy season arrived later this year, it would also function as an indicator of water flow to Jakarta so that floods could be anticipated better.

Currently, the dam irrigates only about 1,500 hectares of rice field. If the dam were rehabilitated, it could irrigate up to 5,000 hectares.

The Katulampa dam was constructed in 1911 to irrigate about 5,000 hectares of rice field on both sides of it.

The minister also visited a section of the Ciliwung river in the Bogor Botanical Park (Kebun Raya Bogor) that would also be rehabilitated.

He said the Ciliwung rehabilitation in the Botanical Park was necessary as part of a program to protect many rare plants there. But the minister did not say how much money would be needed to finance the rehabilitation project. --JP