Kendari (ANTARA) - President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) officiated the Ameroro Dam in Konawe District, Southeast Sulawesi Province, which serves as a tourism destination and a source of irrigation water for agricultural areas.

He said that the development of the Ameroro Dam started in 2020, with a substantial budget of Rp1.57 trillion (US$97.4 million).

"For that reason, local residents should protect it and make the most of it," Jokowi remarked on Tuesday.

He noted that Ameroro Dam, which is among the national strategic projects, was constructed in a bid to prevent water shortages in numerous regions.

"Bearing that in mind, it is necessary to ensure that the water stored in the dam does not wastefully flow into the sea. This dam exists to bring benefits to the people," he affirmed.

The newly inaugurated water facility, the 40th national strategic dam in Indonesia, can accommodate 88 million cubic meters of water over an area of 376 hectares.

With that capacity, the dam can supply water to a total of 3,363 hectares of people's agricultural lands, reduce flood discharge in Konawe by 443 cubic meters per second, supply the district with 511 liters of raw water per second, and generate 1.3 megawatts of electricity.

In addition to serving those purposes, Ameroro Dam is expected to emerge as a new featured tourism destination in Southeast Sulawesi Province.

Before the inauguration of the dam, Jokowi visited the Konawe Regional Public Hospital at 8:30 a.m. local time.

During his visit, he was accompanied by Public Works and Public Housing Minister Basuki Hadimuljono, State Secretary Minister Pratikno, and Commander of the Indonesian National Armed Forces (TNI) General Agus Subiyanto.

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Translator: Abdul A, Tegar Nurfitra
Editor: Anton Santoso
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