The Progress Is 66 Percent, Manikin Dam Will Become The Backbone Of Agriculture In NTT

Manikin Dam (Photo: PU)

JAKARTA - The Manikin Dam in Taebenu District, Kupang Regency, East Nusa Tenggara (NTT), is designed to be the backbone of agricultural development in the Eastern Indonesia region.

"So, it is hoped that it can increase the Agricultural Index (IP) from 200 percent to 300 percent," said Head of the Southeast Nusa II Kupang River Basin Center (BBWS) of the Directorate General of Water Resources of the Ministry of Public Works Parlinggoman Simanungkalit in his official statement, written Wednesday, September 24.

The dam construction work, which has been built since 2019, has reached 66 percent as of early September 2025. So, it is projected that it will be completed in 2028.

PU Minister Dody Hanggodo emphasized that the dam construction is part of the government's long-term commitment to strengthening water security, supporting food security through increasing agricultural productivity and reducing flooding.

"The Manikin Dam is designed not only to control floods and provide raw water, but also to increase agricultural productivity, the goal is to support the national food self-sufficiency program launched by President Prabowo Subianto," he said.

The dam built by the Directorate General of Natural Resources at the Ministry of Public Works has a normal capacity volume of 20.45 million cubic meters.

Thus, it can be used to supply irrigation water, raw water, reduce flooding while at the same time supporting electrical energy.

The water infrastructure, which was built with a budget of IDR 2.059 trillion, will later be used to support the development of the Irrigation Region (DI) covering an area of 570.86 hectares (ha) serving DI Tuahanat covering an area of 100 ha, DI Manikin 437 ha and DI Manumuti covering an area of 33.86 ha.

In addition, it also has the potential for raw water of 700 liters per second. This consists of Kupang City of 350 liters per second and Kupang Regency of 350 liters per second.

The Manikin Dam also has benefits to reduce flooding covering an area of 627 ha in Kupang City (Lasiana Village) and Kupang Regency (Central Kupang District).

In addition, the dam is useful for supporting microhydro power plants (PLTMH) of 0.125 megawatts (MW) and floating solar power plants (PLTS) of 29.8 MW.

The infrastructure has a normal capacity volume of 20.45 million cubic meters, with the potential for irrigation areas of 570.86 ha.