BANDUNG, September 22 (EngineeringDaily) -- The Indonesian Ministry of Public Works recently announced a plan to build 70 reservoirs over the next five years to increase national water storage capacity.
The Vice Minister of Public Works Hermanto Dardak said 50 of the reservoirs will be for irrigation purposes. The government will also build another 20 reservoirs in order to increase hydropower output. The 20 reservoirs set aside for this purpose will have a total capacity of 1,000 megawatts of electricity.
According to government officials, plans for the reservoirs are already well underway. "Of the 50 planned irrigation reservoirs, we currently have 26 reservoirs ready to be built. Of those 26 reservoirs, 21 have already been contracted," said Mudjiadi, Director General of Water Resources for the Ministry of Public Works. The remaining five of the 26 reservoirs will be built next year.
Regarding the remaining 24 irrigation reservoirs, Mudjiadi explained that they have just entered the planning phase in the Ministry of Public Works. Mudjiadi did not specify the location for the construction of any of the dams.
Currently, the National Development Planning Agency (Bappenas) is analyzing the budget for the various projects in order to organize funding. The total funds needed to build all 70 reservoirs comes to about USD 4 billion, assuming each reservoir construction costs USD 50-58 million. Due to the large amount need for the construction, the Ministry of Public Works will propose using a combination of state budget funding and public private partnership (PPP) to the new administration.
Organizing funds will certainly be a major priority for the Ministry of Public Works. Next year alone, the Ministry plans to build or develop 23 reservoirs, 168 ponds, 15 conservation areas, and some clean water facilities, coming to a total cost of USD 500 million.
By Ismail Al Anshori
