Some residents attempt to fish following the closing of Colo Dam's irrigation channel in Sukoharjo, Central Java, on October 16, 2022. The dam was temporarily closed due to renovation. (Photo: antaranews.com)
Jakarta (VNA) – Indonesia needs 300more dams to respond to natural disasters due to negative impacts of climatechange, according to Indonesia’s Ministry of Public Works and Public Housing(PUPR).
In the last decade, Indonesia built at least 60dams to achieve complete water security.
PUPR spokesperson Endra S. Atmawidjaja said thatthe additional number of dams is based on the calculation of the safe limit todeal with the ongoing domestic water crisis.
According to Atmawidjaja, climate change and thephenomenon of El-Nino in the Pacific Ocean cause most regions in Indonesia toexperience longer and more extreme drought, which has an impact on foodsecurity so requisite precautionary measures need to be taken.
He underscored the need for farmers to not losethe momentum to plant rice, corn, and other food crops.
According to him, the more dams it has, the bettera country's ability to store water and use it to water agricultural landsduring the dry season.
Atmawidjaja affirmed that his side will speed upthe construction of several vital dams, considering Indonesia's extremely longdry season that causes water crises in some regions.
Meanwhile, PUPR allocated a budget of 21.5trillion rupiah (1.37 billion USD) to complete the construction of 15 vitaldams by 2024./.
