Helping Public Water Needs, Ministry Of PUPR Builds Drilling Wells In Maluku

Illustration of clean water (Photo: Doc. KPUPR)

JAKARTA - The Maluku River Basin Center, Directorate General of Water Resources, Ministry of PUPR, is completing the construction of a drilling well on Moa Island, Southwest Maluku Regency, Maluku Province. The development was carried out to help the water needs of the community, especially buffalo farmers.

Director of Groundwater and Water Baku Directorate General of Water Resources of the Ministry of PUPR Agus Rudyanto said the construction of the drill well was a follow-up to the results of President Joko Widodo's (Jokowi) visit in September 2022 which listened to the aspirations of a number of buffalo breeders in Werwaru Village, Moa Island.

"The request of the people in Southwest Maluku Regency is to provide groundwater to fulfill natural puddles or reservoirs that function as a bathing and drinking buffalo," said Rudyanto in a written statement, Tuesday, June 14.

The provision of water for livestock is very much needed, because the residents of Moa Island mostly work as buffalo and horse breeders. Therefore, he said, the Ministry of PUPR collaborated with the Faculty of Engineering, Gajah Mada University (UGM), as well as five super-special graduates of groundwater, who directly went to Southwest Maluku Regency.

"In 2022, drilling has been carried out at two points, then in 2023 we will also continue to drill at three points. Hopefully this activity can be useful for the people on Moa Island," he said.

Meanwhile, the Head of the Water Utilization Network Implementation Unit (PJPA) of the Maluku River Basin Center Nonce Saman said the drill water well facility that was built involved local residents and was equipped with a solar power plant as an energy source.

"We are grateful that the water has come out. We have so far carried out the construction of a pipeline from a two-point well with a distance to a puddle of 150 meters," he said.

Related to this, the Head of Moa M Naslewan Sub-district expressed his gratitude for the assistance of services to the community for the procurement of clean water as needed.

"We in Moa District initially had no water, the water we consumed was brackish water so far and when the President made a visit to Moa District and listened to public complaints, so the groundwater source drilling carried out by BWS Maluku was carried out," he added.