The Construction Of The Krueng Pasee Dam Tak Kunjung Kelesai, 8,900 Sawah Hectares In North Aceh Endangered By Droughts

The project for the construction of the Krueng Pasee dam. BETWEEN

ACEH UTARA - The North Aceh Regency Government (Pemkab) through the Agriculture and Food Service stated that thousands of hectares of rice fields in the area were threatened with drought. Head of the Agriculture and Food Service of North Aceh Regency, Erwandi, said there were around 8,900 hectares of rice fields threatened by drought. "The threat of drought due to the construction of the Krueng Pasee dam has not been completed. The Krueng Pasee Dam is a source of water for thousands of hectares of community rice fields," Erwandi said in Lhokseumawe, quoted from Antara, Tuesday, January 10. According to Erwandi, thousands of hectares of rice fields are threatened with a water crisis if it doesn't rain in the near future. Thousands of hectares of rice fields are spread over eight sub-districts in North Aceh Regency and one sub-district in Lhokseumawe City. Erwandi detailed that thousands of hectares of rice fields were threatened with drought, including those in Meurah Mulia District, Matang Kuli District, Tanah Luas District, Tanah Pasir District, and Syamtalira Aron District. Selanjutnya, Kecamatan Syamtalira Bayu, Kecamatan Samudera dan Kecamatan Nibong serta Kecamatan Blang Mangat di Kota Lhokseumawe, kata Erwandi menyebutkan. "Thousands of hectares of rice fields in the nine sub-districts have the status of rain fields or rice fields that only use rainwater as the main source of water," said Erwandi. Erwandi said the construction of the Krueng Pasee dam was carried out by contractors from East Java. The project to repair the irrigation dam embankment will begin in November 2021 and is targeted for completion by the end of 2022. However, until the construction contract ended, the project to build the Krueng Pasee dam had not yet been completed, resulting in a water crisis for the nine sub-district rice fields. The repair of the Krueng Pasee dam was caused by a flood at the end of 2020. The construction of the Krueng Pasee dam is the responsibility of the central government through the Sumatra River Basin Center. "We hope that the project to repair the Krueng Pasee dam can be completed soon so that people can return to farming. We are only able to reduce the impact of the slow construction of the dam, such as lending tools to reduce the impact of drought," said Erwandi.