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)