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Jatigede Dam awaits SBY'€™s instruction on massive relocation

The government’s plan to accelerate the completion of the Jatigede Dam has hit an impasse, as the presidential decree detailing the plan to relocate thousands of residents living in the vicinity of the dam has yet to be issued

Nadya Natahadibrata (The Jakarta Post)
Jakarta
Sat, July 19, 2014

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Jatigede Dam awaits SBY'€™s instruction on massive relocation

T

he government'€™s plan to accelerate the completion of the Jatigede Dam has hit an impasse, as the presidential decree detailing the plan to relocate thousands of residents living in the vicinity of the dam has yet to be issued.

As previously reported, the Rp 4 trillion (US$344,3 million) dam construction has been included on the list of priority projects set to be completed or started within the current administration'€™s remaining three-month term.

Coordinating Economic Minister Chairul Tanjung previously expected the project to be launched before October this year, but the decree needed to ensure the government has a clear legal basis for the evictions has yet to be issued.

'€œAfter the Idul Fitri holiday, we will invite the West Java governor to sign a statement confirming his agreement to assist us in relocating the residents. After that, the decree will be signed,'€ Public Works Minister Djoko Kirmanto told reporters on Thursday evening.

Djoko said the Office of the Coordinating Economic Minister agreed with the plan to allocate Rp 1.1 trillion from the state budget to pay compensation to the thousands of families still living in the dam area.

'€œThe construction of the dam was initiated by former president Sukarno, but the work was never completed,'€ Djoko said.

'€œThe new Coordinating Economic Minister has finally agreed that the project is crucial and state funds should be allocated to complete the project, with a note that the West Java governor is required to assist us with the eviction process,'€ he said.

Expected to be the country'€™s second-largest dam, Jatigede is considered crucial to ensuring food security, as it will have the capacity to irrigate around 90,000 hectares of rice fields in Sumedang, Indramayu and Cirebon regencies in West Java once it is completed.

The dam is being built on 4,891 ha of land, which covers 26 subdistricts in five districts of the province, and it is projected to supply 3,500 liters of water per second.

The government has faced a series of difficulties in relocating the 5,000 or so families still living around the project area.

Most of the families received compensation and had agreed to relocate when the project'€™s construction was launched in the early 1980s.

However, most of them returned after learning that the project had been stalled due to funding and other setbacks in the 1990s.

'€œWhat'€™s important for the residents is some assurances. With a decree stating the amount of compensation that they will receive, they will be willing to move from the area,'€ Djoko said.

The minister said that once the decree was signed, the ministry would start relocating the residents in stages, adding that the process of filling up the dam was expected to begin in September this year.

He also said that other infrastructure projects on the government'€™s priority list included the long-awaited 2,700-kilometer Trans Sumatra highway, the Cilamaya seaport and Kertajati airport in West Java, as well as the expansion of Soekarno-Hatta International Airport in Tangerang.

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