The Ministry Of PUPR Targets The Lau Simeme Dam In North Sumatra To Be Completed Next July

Lau Simeme Dam (Photo: dock. KPUPR)

JAKARTA - The Ministry of Public Works and Public Housing (PUPR) through the Directorate General of Water Resources targets the construction of the Lau Simeme Dam in Deli Serdang Regency, North Sumatra Province, to be completed in July 2024.

Spokesperson for the Ministry of PUPR Endra S Atmawidjaja said that currently the progress of the dam construction has reached 78 percent.

"Currently, we are finalizing land affairs. It is hoped that we can immediately complete coordination with various parties so that this dam can be completed and affected by the end of June 2024 or no later than July 2024," said Endra in a written statement received by VOI, Wednesday, March 20.

The Lau Simeme Dam itself began working in 2017 at a cost of Rp1.65 trillion. The dam construction was carried out by PT Wijaya Karya-PT Bumi Karsa (KSO) for Package 1 and PT Pembangunan Perumahan (PP)-PT Andesmon Sakti (KSO) for Package 2.

The plan is for the Lau Simeme Dam to be designed with a zonal type of stone pile which has a height of 69.50 meters (m) from the river, the peak length of the 205 m dam with an inundation area of 125.84 hectares (ha).

Later, the dam with a capacity of 21.07 million cubic meters will have two main weapons, namely to reduce floods in the city of Medan by 289 cubic meters per second and provide raw water of 3,000 liters per second.

In addition, it also has an additional function to provide 1 MW of electrical energy and as a tourism destination.

"Hopefully, the existence of this dam can reduce the flood discharge by 30 percent. In addition, it can increase the supply of raw water for 600 thousand people in Medan and Deli Serdang," he said.

The Ministry of PUPR has a construction program of 61 dams during 2014-2024. For now, the Ministry of PUPR has completed the construction of 42 dams, which have been inaugurated and operated.

Currently, there are 19 more dams that are the responsibility of the ministry. One of those targeted to be completed in July 2024 is the Lau Simeme Dam.