President Joko Widodo inaugurated the Temef Dam in South Central Timor Regency, East Nusa Tenggara (NTT), which was built by PT Waskita Karya. The largest dam in NTT is believed to be capable of irrigating 4,500 hectares (ha) of irrigation land. The Head of State stated that water is the key to prosperity in NTT. The presence of water, he continued, has enormous benefits for farmers in planting rice, corn and cassava.
“Without water, don’t imagine that our province, NTT, will be prosperous and prosperous. “Therefore, in 10 years the government has built four dams in NTT, one Rotiklot Dam, two Raknamo Dams, three Napun Gete Dams, and currently the Temef Dam in South Central Timor,” he explained when giving a speech at the inauguration of the Temef Dam in NTT, Wednesday (2/10).
He continued, the dam, which has been built since 2017, is very large because it has a pool area of up to 297 ha and can hold up to 45 million cubic meters (m3) of water. The Temef Dam, he continued, is also able to reduce flooding in South Central Timor Regency and Malacca Regency.
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“The Temef Dam was built at a cost of IDR 2.7 trillion or estimated at IDR 2,700 billion. “This is for the people of NTT,” stressed Jokowi.
He also confirmed that by January next year, the water in the Temef Dam would be fully filled or 100%. Meanwhile, currently it is only around 20% full.
Waskita Karya Director Muhammad Hanugroho added, during Waskita Karya’s 63 years of long experience, the company has built 30 water resource infrastructure projects consisting of dams, irrigation, flood control and coastal protection. Among them is the Temef Dam which is one of the National Strategic Projects (PSN) of the 83 PSNs built by Waskita.
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The dam is located in three villages in two sub-districts, namely Oenino Village and Pane Utara Village, Oenino District, and Konbaki Village, Polen District. The presence of the Temef Dam, he continued, will provide benefits for irrigation covering an area of 4,500 ha consisting of the Haekto Irrigation Area (DI) and DI Malaka, as well as supporting food storage in the area.
“The construction of the dam was accompanied by methods of modernizing irrigation, through the development of innovation and irrigation management that relies on water supply from the dam. “This helps increase the productivity of the agricultural sector in the region,” he explained.
He continued, the benefits of dams are not only limited to increasing national water and food security. But also as a development of a tourism area.
“Of course this can help local and state governments in increasing local economic growth. “The opportunity for the community as local MSME business actors to improve their business is even greater,” he said. (Ant/Z-11)
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