Bekasi Paralyzed By Floods, Ministry Of Public Works Claims Ciawi Dam-Sukamahi Has Functioned Well

Director General of Water Resources of the Ministry of Public Works Lilik Retno Cahyadiningsih (leftmost). (Photo: Theresia Agatha/VOI)

JAKARTA - The Ministry of Public Works (PU) assessed that the Ciawi and Sukamahi Dams had functioned well during the floods that hit Bekasi City and Bekasi Regency, West Java, recently.

The Director General of Water Resources at the Ministry of Public Works, Lilik Retno Cahyadiningsih, said that during the flood, the Ciawi Dam managed to hold water as much as two million cubic meters, while the Sukamahi Dam held 0.3 million cubic meters.

"Actually (the dam) of Ciawi and Sukamahi has shown its performance, yes. Because yesterday when the flood was big enough to be detained (the two dams)," Lilik told reporters at his office, Friday, March 7.

Lilik assessed that flooding in Bekasi continued to occur due to extreme rainfall.

According to him, rainfall is said to be very heavy and extreme if it is more than 150 millimeters (mm) per day.

The flood incident a few days ago was due to recorded rainfall reaching 356 mm per day.

"If it is very heavy and extreme, it is bigger than 150 mm per day. And what happened (yesterday) how much? 356 mm per day. So, it is very extreme. This is actually what happened like that," he said.

Citing the official website of the Ministry of Public Works, the Ciawi Dam has been completed in 2022 and inaugurated by the 7th President of the Republic of Indonesia Joko Widodo (Jokowi) in December 2022.

This dam has a water capacity volume of 6.05 million cubic meters and an inundation area of 39.40 hectares.

This water infrastructure is a dry dam whose construction has been carried out since 2016 and cost IDR 1.3 trillion.

Meanwhile, the Sukamahi Dam has a capacity of 1.68 million cubic meters and an inundation area of 5.23 hectares.

This dam can reduce flooding by 15.47 cubic meters per second. The construction cost Rp464.93 billion.