W

/span>With food self-sufficiency placed at the top of the government'€™s agenda for the next five years, the Public Works and Public Housing Ministry is speeding up its efforts to complete dam projects, aiming at operating a total of 29 new dams by 2019.

As reported earlier, the ministry was assigned to construct 49 dams over the next five years, an increase from the previous target of 30 dams.

'€œIt will take several years to complete the construction, therefore out of the 49 dams that will break ground over the next five years, 29 will have their construction completed by 2019,'€ Public Works and Public Housing Minister Basuki Hadimuljono said on Friday.

The minister said that the government planned to allocate Rp 8.2 trillion (US$665.7 million) to construct a total of 11 dams next year.

'€œFive of them, with a total investment of Rp 5.6 trillion, are set to complete their tender processes before the end of this year and we hope that we can begin construction as soon as possible,'€ he said.

The five dams that are targeted to begin construction early next year are Krueng Kreuto in Aceh, Kariyan in Banten, Logung in Central Java, Raknamo in East Nusa Tenggara, and Lolak in North Sulawesi.

The remaining Rp 2.6 trillion budget allocation will be used to construct six dams: Bintang Bano and Tanju Mila in West Nusa Tenggara; Telaga Waja in Bali; Rotikold in East Nusa Tenggara; Passaloreng in South Sulawesi; and Tapin in South Kalimantan.

President Joko '€œJokowi'€ Widodo is aiming for the country to be self-sufficient in four key commodities '€” rice, corn, soybeans and sugar '€” in the next three to four years, and irrigation development plays an important role in realizing this goal.

According to the National Development Planning Board (Bappenas), the total investment needed to develop water resources between 2015 and 2019 totals Rp 400.5 trillion.

The amount allocated by the state budget to the sector is around Rp 275.5 trillion, with the remaining Rp 68 trillion expected to come from regional administration budgets, state-owned enterprises and the private sector.

Basuki also said that the ministry expected to start filling the long-awaited Jatigede Dam early next year, as a presidential decree detailing the plan to relocate some 5,000 families still living in the area will be issued before the end of this year.

The government will need a total of Rp 5.5 quadrillion in investment for infrastructure projects between 2015 and 2019, according to Bappenas.