The Progress Of The Sepaku Semoi Dam Which Will Flow Clean Water To IKN Nunsantara Is Only 25 Percent

The exterior design of the Presidential Palace in the State Capital (IKN) of the Archipelago in East Kalimantan. (Instagram @nyoman_nuarta)

The progress of the construction of the Sepaku Semoi Dam which functions to channel clean water to the State Capital (IKN) of the Archipelago has reached 75 percent.

Head of the Kalimantan IV Samarinda River Basin Center, Harya Muldianto, said the dam in North Penajam Paser Regency, East Kalimantan (Kaltim) is targeted for completion in March 2023.

"Currently, we are continuing to do our work to achieve the targets that have been set and we are optimistic that the time will be over," he said at a national media meeting at Penajam Paser Utama, East Kalimantan, quoted from Antara, Sunday, November 6.

He said, when the dam is finished, it will channel clean water to the IKN area and it can also function for irrigation as a tourism place.

Another benefit of the existence of this dam, he said, was that it was able to flow 2,500 liters of raw water per second, which was divided into 2,000 for IKN and 500 for Balikpapan, and was able to reduce flooding by 55.26 percent.

Another function of the existence of the dam, which has a total land area of 378 hectares, also has strategic value and is important for IKN, which is to be able to control flooding.

The implementation of the work that has been carried out so far includes inspection land work and public facilities, main dam piles, hydromechanicals, upstream bridge work, downstream bridge work, and regional fences.

"The source of water in this dam will later come from the Tengin River but also from rainwater where the rainfall level in this area is quite large every year," said Harya.

The cost of building this dam reached Rp556 billion, sourced from APBN funds for the 2019-2023 Fiscal Year with the implementation period 2020-2023.

The construction of the Sepaku Sepoi Dam has been reviewed by President Joko Widodo, Minister of Public Works and Public Housing (PUPR) Basuki Hadimuljono, a number of ministers, and high-ranking state officials.