JAKARTA - Thousands of rice fields in Bireuen Regency, Aceh Province, were affected by flash floods that hit the area at the end of 2025.
Bireun Regent Mukhlis Takabeya said that Bendung Pante Lhong was the main focus of farmers in his area, while irrigation damage had an impact on thousands of hectares of land.
"There are six irrigation channels that are damaged and more than 2,000 hectares of rice fields are affected. Hopefully, during this fasting month, it can be functional again, so that after Lebaran, farmers can immediately go to the rice fields," said Mukhlis when accompanying the Minister of Public Works (PU) Dody Hanggodo to review the Bendung Pante Lhong on Tuesday, February 24, quoted from a written statement, Wednesday, February 25.
Meanwhile, Minister Dody targets that the irrigation flow from the Pante Lhong Dam in Bireuen Regency, Aceh, can return to function after Ramadan.
"Alhamdulillah, the intake of the bendung has been completed, hopefully the water will flow soon, so that farmers can start planting after Ramadan," he said.
Bendung Pante Lhong is the main source of water for the Pante Lhong Irrigation Area (DI) covering an area of 6,562 hectares.
After the flood, sedimentation piled up in the mud pockets and disrupted the operation of the flushing gate and damaged the dikes and lining of the irrigation channel.
The increase in the flow of the Krueng Peusangan River also triggered overtopping which caused erosion of the bank and widening of the river cross section from around 120 meters to 180 meters.
For emergency handling, the PU Ministry is building a coverdam, carrying out flow normalization and sediment cleaning at intakes and irrigation networks.
In addition, the permanent strengthening of the embankment on the right and left sides of the river is planned along approximately 20 kilometers and will be implemented gradually through a multi-year scheme.
"We have to strengthen the right and left sides so that when there is another flood, it does not hit and widen the river. If the river widens, irrigation is damaged, pumps are damaged and other infrastructure are affected. So, we try to build a permanent embankment," added Dody.
Previously, the Ministry of Public Works (PU) projected the budget needs for handling flash floods and landslides in Sumatra over the next four years.
Based on the Master Plan (Renduk) and Strategic Plan (Renstra) which are currently being discussed with the Ministry of National Development Planning/National Development Planning Agency (PPN/Bappenas), the total indication of funding needs for the period 2025-2028 reaches Rp. 73.98 trillion or almost Rp. 74 trillion.
Minister Dody detailed that the budget allocation would be divided into two main positions.
A total of Rp4.84 trillion was allocated for emergency response activities, while the largest portion, namely Rp69.14 trillion, was allocated for Rehabilitation and Reconstruction (Rehab & Recon).
This was conveyed by Dody in a Working Meeting with Commission V of the DPR at the Parliament Complex, Senayan, Jakarta, Tuesday, January 27.
"For information, from our results and strategic plan, the total indication for handling the budget needs for disaster handling in 2025-2028 is almost Rp74 trillion," he said.
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