Rp 800 billion dam in South Sulawesi nears completion
Rp 800 billion dam in South Sulawesi nears completion
UJUNGPANDANG, South Sulawesi (JP): Construction of an Rp 800
billion (US$340 million) dam in Bilibili, 30 kilometers east of
here, will soon be completed but dam management is still causing
headaches.
Scores of workers are racing against the clock to finish the
1,850-hectare reservoir which will hold up to 375 million cubic
meters. It is scheduled to start operating in November.
About 75 percent of the work on the dam on the Jeneberang
river has been completed. Construction began in 1994.
The dam is meant to control floods, irrigate 24,000 hectares
of paddy fields, provide drinking water for Ujungpandang and
generate 16.3 megawatts of electricity.
Project manager Haryanto Brojo said the dam would directly
benefit hundreds of thousands of families.
"The flood that submerged three-quarters of Ujungpandang in
1976 will not reoccur," he told journalists at the site last
week.
Major floods during rainy seasons have undermined
Ujungpandang's ambition to become an economic hub for eastern and
western Indonesia, and have hampered tourism.
The dam, financed by Japan's Economic Cooperation Funds, will
supply drinking water to 1.2 million Ujungpandang residents at a
capacity of 3,300 liters a second.
Haryanto said the project, which had relocated more than 570
farming families, had tremendous potential for tourism.
The dam's proximity to Ujungpandang can make it a destination
for holidaymakers wanting to see hilly forests and enjoy water
sports, such as rowing.
Project officials are seeking investors to beautify two hills
located 50 meters apart in the center of the reservoir which will
not be submerged after the watergates close. Management plans to
connect the hills with chairlifts and build tourist facilities on
them.
A 7.5 hectare plot of fertile land around the reservoir will
be reserved for cash crops and plantations for timber used to
build traditional Pinisi boats.
Project officials are sure the reservoir will be completed on
time, but are still wondering who will manage it.
"We need about Rp 600 million a year to keep the facility
running," Haryanto said. "The problem is that the facility should
generate income to finance maintenance."
The government has not decided whether to form a state-owned
company like Jasa Tirta, which manages Brantas river in Central
Java, or an authority like the one managing Jatiluhur reservoir
in West Java.
Haryanto said the Bilibili dam would have to be exploited to
its maximum income-generating potential, and this might require
private sector involvement. (pan)