T

he Public Works and Public Housing Ministry is confident the ministry will realize more than 90 percent of its budget this year, as it will finalize contracts for the construction of four dams in three provinces.

Public Works and Public Housing Minister Basuki Hadimuljono said Friday his office had spent around Rp 7.6 trillion (US$577.8 million) in state budget funds so far this year.

'€œBudget realization will reach around 20 percent by the end of June, as we will soon sign contracts [with construction companies] for a number of projects next month. We are optimistic that we can spend 94 percent of the allocated budget by the end of this year,'€ Basuki told reporters at his office.

The ministry has completed project tenders for the Passeloreng Dam in South Sulawesi, the Mila and Tanju dams in West Nusa Tenggara and Karian Dam in Banten.

Data from the ministry show that the total investment needed to build the Passeloreng Dam reached Rp 800 billion, while the Tanju and Mila dams would require an investment of Rp 404 billion. The total cost for building the Karian dam will reach Rp 1.2 trillion.

Construction on the dam projects was expected to get underway in the second half of the year, Basuki said.

'€œWe are still waiting for the multiyear contract permits from the Finance Ministry, and after they issue the permits, we are ready to go,'€ Basuki said.

As of the end of April, over a period of three-and-a-half months, the ministry spent just 2.4 percent of its annual Rp 118 trillion budget, down from 11.5 percent over the same period last year, data from the ministry show.

Budget realization for the Public Works and Public Housing Ministry is crucial to spurring economic growth in the country, as the ministry received the biggest allocation in the revised state budget this year.

Indonesia'€™s gross domestic product (GDP) growth in the first quarter this year fell to 4.71 percent year-on-year (yoy) from 5.01 percent in the fourth quarter of 2014 on the back of low government expenditure.

According to Basuki, the ministry'€™s low spending was caused by late disbursement of the revised 2015 state budget, in which the ministry received an additional Rp 33.6 trillion from the initial budget of Rp 84.91 trillion.

'€œWe are currently discussing a plan to begin the tender process for next year'€™s infrastructure projects in August, so that by early next year, we can immediately begin construction on the projects after the budget is disbursed to speed up realization,'€ Basuki said.

From the total Rp 118 trillion allocated for the ministry, Rp 94.5 trillion has been allocated to new infrastructure projects, while the rest '€” Rp 12.8 trillion '€” will go toward maintenance, including road and irrigation repairs.

Over the next five years, the ministry aims to build 49 new dams, 1,000 kilometers of toll roads and 2,650 kilometers of national roads nationwide.