"OIKN and the PUPR Ministry will make North Penajam Paser District the food barn of the new capital city of Indonesia," he stated in Penajam on Friday.
PUPR Minister Basuki Hadimuljono, concurrently acting head of the Nusantara Capital City Authority (OIKN), said that North Penajam Paser has extensive rice fields, especially in Babulu Sub-district.
The minister pointed out the area is expected to support the fulfillment of various needs for IKN in the future.
"We support the arrangement of the irrigation system to increase rice production," Hadimuljono remarked during his visit to the 2024 IKN Expo in North Penajam Paser.
Hadimuljono noted that the arrangement of the irrigation system includes continuing the construction of the Talake River Movable Dam in Long Kali Sub-district, Paser District, an area bordering North Penajam Paser.
Land acquisition for the construction of the Talake River Movable Dam was carried out in 2020.
The movable dam has been planned to be built over an area of 74,307 hectares, covering an area in both the districts of North Penajam Paser and Paser, with an estimated budget of Rp759.8 billion (around US$48.3 million).
However, the ministry diverted the budget for the construction of the Talake River Movable Dam to a water supply project in Sepaku Sub-district to fulfill the clean water needs in IKN.
The Talake River Movable Dam is projected to irrigate 14 thousand hectares of rice fields in Paser District and eight thousand hectares in North Penajam Paser District.
The minister explained that the River Movable Dam is planned to be realized in 2025, as the agricultural infrastructure will support the irrigation needs of rice fields in the districts of Paser and North Penajam Paser.
Farmers, so far, relied on or depended on rain-fed water to irrigate the rice fields.
They are hopeful that the construction of the Talake River Movable Dam in Long Kali Sub-district, Paser District, will soon be realized.
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Translator: Nyaman Bagus Purwaniawan, Cindy Frishanti Octavia
Editor: Tia Mutiasari
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