Garbage piles reduce age of East Java dam

Sediment and garbage in front of the Sengguruh dam water gate in Kepanjen district, Malang, East Java, are thought to be the main factors reducing the expectancy of the dam to merely five more years.

Setyo Wibowo, an official from the Malang branch of state water supplier Perum Jasa Tirta, said 5 million meter cubic of garbage piled around the gate every year, while it could only pass on some 300,000 meter cubic of garbage on an annual basis.

As the result, around 4.7 millions meter cubic of garbage piled up before the gate, disrupting the basic functions of the 22-year-old dam.

“There is too much sedimentary garbage, which will weaken the water gate. If we let this condition go on, we predict that within five years the dam will be damaged and no longer be able to produce electricity,” Setyo said.

He said that from an expected 28 megawatts per day, the dam was now only able to produce 18 megawatts of electricity per day.

“The dam could last longer if we can dredge the garbage and sedimentation more frequently,” he added.

Limited dredging equipment, with only one machine to collect the garbage working 24 hours every day, as well as lack of dumping sites were among the factors causing the issue, Setyo said.

Periodic reports to the central government on the situation have not been responded to seriously, he added.