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 300 more dams to respond to natural disasters due to negative impacts of climate change, according to Indonesia’s Ministry of Public Works and Public Housing (PUPR).
In the last decade, Indonesia built at least 60 dams to achieve complete water security.
PUPR spokesperson Endra S. Atmawidjaja said that the additional number of dams is based on the calculation of the safe limit to deal with the ongoing domestic water crisis.
According to Atmawidjaja, climate change and the phenomenon of El-Nino in the Pacific Ocean cause most regions in Indonesia to experience longer and more extreme drought, which has an impact on food security so requisite precautionary measures need to be taken.
He underscored the need for farmers to not lose the momentum to plant rice, corn, and other food crops.
According to him, the more dams it has, the better a country's ability to store water and use it to water agricultural lands during the dry season.
Atmawidjaja affirmed that his side will speed up the construction of several vital dams, considering Indonesia's extremely long dry season that causes water crises in some regions.
Meanwhile, PUPR allocated a budget of 21.5 trillion rupiah (1.37 billion USD) to complete the construction of 15 vital dams by 2024./.
