Anticipate Drought, Minister Of PUPR Do This

JAKARTA - Minister of Public Works and Public Housing (PUPR) Basuki Hadimuljono said he had taken a number of anticipatory steps in the water infrastructure sector to prevent drought in the dry season.

"To overcome drought in the dry season, anticipatory steps have been taken, especially in the field of water infrastructure," said Basuki Hadimuljono quoting Antara.

He said the anticipatory steps were taken by preparing water infrastructure such as dams, drill wells and ensuring that irrigation canals were running properly.

"We have also prepared a dam, this has been filled and then drilled a new bore well, or it could be a drilling well that has been rehabilitated for a long time. And this has all been done to prevent drought in the dry season," he said.

According to him, with the steps to ensure that water infrastructure runs well, it is hoped that it can overcome and prevent water shortages during the dry season.

"With this, hopefully there will be no shortage of water and everything will run smoothly," he said.

In Lampung alone, there are several water infrastructure facilities that have been prepared, such as the Batu Tegi Dam, Way Sekampung Dam with a capacity of 68 million cubic meters. Which is divided into 55,373 irrigation areas, and those that are still in the construction stage are the Margatiga Dam.

The Margatiga Dam itself has a capacity of 42.31 million cubic meters which accommodates water from the Way Sekampung River, this dam has the potential to also flow an area of 16,585 hectares. The process of working on the dam in East Lampung Regency is said by the Expert Staff of the Minister of PUPR for Technology, Industry and Environment as well as Spokesperson for the Ministry of PUPR Endra S. Atmawidjaja.

"For the Margatiga Dam, there are currently several obstacles that are still being resolved, such as a price mismatch with the community, for now we are still looking for a common ground," said Endra S. Atmawidjaja.

He continued that besides that there are also problems regarding the status of unreleased forest areas, and currently it will be carried out in stages.

"Currently we are mediating on some of these issues, so that everything can run smoothly and can help expand the irrigation network in Lampung," he also said.