Inaugurating The Dam In Bolaang, North Sulawesi, Jokowi: This Water Affairs Is An Important Problem

President Jokowi in Bolaang Mongondow, North Sulawesi Friday (23/2/2024). (ANTARA)

MANADO - President Joko Widodo when inaugurating the Lolak Dam in Bolaang Mongondow Regency, North Sulawesi said water management should be a concentration of work. "In the future, water affairs will become a big issue or important if we don't prepare it now," he said in Bolaang Mongondow, quoted by ANTARA Friday, February 23. Indonesia, he said, has 4,400 rivers, but only 292 rivers have dams. As an illustration, China has as many as 98,000 dams, South Korea has approximately 20,000 dams, while Indonesia has 292 dams. The president said the Lolak Dam can accommodate as much as 16 million cubic meters capable of irrigating rice fields of approximately 2,200 hectares. "So if in other provinces, in other districts we also have dams with less similar capacities, we will be able to manage the water in our country properly so that it is useful," he said. Lolak Dam can also provide raw water for the people of Bolaang Mongondow which reduces flooding to 29 percent. "If previously there were floods, floods, floods then there are dams, flooding will be reduced by 29 percent. Likewise for mini hydro electricity, "said the President.

Moreover, he said, based on information from the Governor of North Sulawesi Olly Dondokambey, Bolaang Mongondow Regency, the rice barn of North Sulawesi. "That's right, we hope that the Lolak Dam can be useful for all of us," he said.