Now Jatiluhur dam with a perspective of a lake that covers 8,300 angular distance in Purwakarta district, also in West Java, is the largest reservoir in the country.
According to Coordinating Minister for Economy, Hatta Rajasa, the Jatigede dam with the water volume of up to one billion cubic meters would be the second largest in the country after Jatiluhur dam.
"The second largest dam will have a potential to improve the local people`s welfare because it will capable to irrigate 90-thousand hectare of rice fields, to generate electricity power, and for other economic activities," Hatta said in Jakarta on Tuesday.
Located some 19 km east of Sumedang town, the Jatigede dam is an embankment currently under construction on the Cimanuk River in Sumedang district.
Construction on the dam began in 2008 and is expected to be completed in 2014.
The primary purpose of the dam is irrigation but it will also provide for flood control, water supply and hydroelectric power generation.
The project has become controversial, primarily due to the relocation of people in the future reservoir zone.
Despite the controversy, the government stated in 2004 that an agreement had been reached, and the contract to build the dam and power plant was awarded to China`s Sinohydro Corporation in May 2007.
He noted that the presence of the Jatigede dam would be very beneficial to the interest of the people living around it, and therefore the construction should be sped up.
But he added that the acceleration of the Jatigede dam project had nothing to do with the interest of China that would provide a loan.
"It does not have any relation or agreement with China. The relation with China only deals with the provision of the loan," Hatta said after a coordination meeting.
Hatta also denied an assumption that compensation for the people who were relocated from the site of the project came from China, but from the state budget.
The West Java administration is determined to settle social problems hindering construction of the Jatigede dam project.
The dam is being built on a 4,891-hectare land area covering five districts across 26 sub districts.
The project is expected to provide input for drinking water production reaching 3,500 liters per second while also producing 110 Megawatts of electricity.
Meanwhile, Public Works Minister Joko Kirmanto said here on Monday that the gate of Jatigede dam would be closed on October 1, 2013 in order for the dam to be filled with water.
"We will start filling the dam with water on October 1 this year and thus the nearby people should have been relocated by then. Everything has been arranged for their relocation," Joko said after a coordination meeting to discuss the relocation of affected people around the dam.
According to him, the compensation funds for the people affected by the dam construction project had been made available, and some were provided by the Ministry of Public Housing.
"The affected people will have the houses outside the dam area. The funds for their relocation are provided by the Ministry of Public Housing," Joko said.
Further, he added that based on the planning of West Java provincial government, the relocation of the affected people would not be far away from their current residence.
"The relocation will not be very far away from the dam site, and hopefully it will not disturb the livelihood," Joko said.
According to Public Housing Minister Djan Faridz, the houses for the people affected by the dam project would be build starting in July this year.
"It has been auctioned and that we hope the construction of houses for the affected people will start in July 2013," the public housing minister said on Wednesday.
Faridz explained that the construction of the houses would be made in two stages, the first is to build 1,000 houses this year and the second stage will be 2,000 houses next year.
He added that the houses would be built not very far away from the dam area.
Again, Hatta Rajasa said the government has established a "one-roof" team whose membership consisted of officials from various institutions, including the police, the prosecutors` office and the education and culture office.
The team has been instructed to settle various problems related to social, cultural and environmental issues related to the project, which is being carried out by the Ministry of Public Works.
Hatta noted that from the first verification in the past, around 4,590 heads of family would be relocated, and outside the verification, there were another 2,713 heads of family to be relocated.
The Public Works Ministry is accelerating the Rp 4 trillion (US$408 million) Jatigede Dam project as part of the government`s food security program.
The construction of the dam, which is now almost 70 percent complete, is expected to start operation in April 2013 as the country`s second largest dam with the capacity to irrigate around 90,000 hectares of rice fields across the Sumedang, Indramayu and Cirebon districts in West Java.
(O001/F001)
Reporter: Otniel Tamindael
Editor: Jafar M Sidik
Copyright © ANTARA 2013
