REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, BATAM -- President Joko Widodo (Jokowi), who was visiting Batam, said he had asked to speed up completion of the Sei Gong dam in Galang, Batam. The plan was the dam with a capacity of holding 11 million cubic meters of water was to be comp0leted by the end of 2018, but Jokowi said it could be finished in mid 2018. "I have talked with the contractor that it could be completed in mid 2018," the president said when inspecting the project on the Galang island on Thursday.

Construction of the Sei Gong which will have a production capacity of 400 liters per second will cost around Rp238 billion. Currently, construction, which started in 2016, is around 35 percent completed, he said.

Public Works and Housing Minister Basuki Hadimulyo, who accompanied the president in the visit, said the Sei Gong dam is one of 49 new dams to be built by the government until 2019. "It is a an estuary dam as it is located in a river estuary," Basuki said.

The dam, expected to be operational in 2019, is not intended for irrigation but only for human consumption, he added. "Batam needs a supply of 3,250 liters of water per second. Now Batam has 8 dams with a total capacity to supply 2,800 liters per second. Additional dam, therefore, is needed," he said.

He said currently the government also is building other 16 planned by the previous government

Ikuti Whatsapp Channel Republika